Synopsis
In a series of essays by an international group of scholars and policy makers, this book provides the first sustained look at democracy and democratic movements in the Middle East. Moving beyond a concern with the growth of Islamicist movements and nationalist states, the authors probe the historical experiences of the last hundred years and the social conflict over the past decade centering on democratic structures and processes from North Africa to Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. The essays explore from theoretical, descriptive, and political perspectives questions of democracy, freedom, and rule of law in a region that is usually thought of as lacking in all of these respects.
Most comparative studies find that the Middle East does not have traits of or prospects for democracy, owing to the absence of autonomous elites, a heritage of despotism, or the nature of Islam. The authors of this book call this assumption into question by taking a more inclusive and dynamic view of democracy, seeing it as an ongoing project that unfolds on two related fronts. One of these is the continuous assertion and exercise of popular sovereignty, and the other is the equally persistent declaration and protection of fundamental human rights. Many of the essays address the central question of how to make states accountable before society, and the overriding importance of such accountability as a moral principle of political organization.
In recent years there has been a marked growth in the number and influence of social movements and organizations working to expand social, political, and civil rights, and to constrain the power of the states in many countries in the Middle East. At the same time many of the regimes in the area have introduced practices and institutions designed to make their rule more democratic in order to enhance their domestic and international standing and legitimacy, as well as to spur economic growth.
As a whole, the book demonstrates that neither the region's overgrown state structures nor the corresponding weakness of autonomous societal organizations can be explained by referring to cultural characteristics of the people in the Middle East or to the precepts of their religions. True explanations, the authors argue, should be framed historically. They pay special attention to the relations among the various groups and regions of the Middle East and to those between the Middle East and western Europe. The authors emphasize the important role played by economic issues and constraints in broadening or narrowing the scope of democracy at various points in time; and finally, they are in agreement in seeing religion and culture of the Middle East not in static and essentialist terms but as dynamic phenomena that grow independently and even in opposition to existing political authorities.
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