Islamic Democracy

1
Islamic Democracy

• A Valid Concept or an
• Oxymoron?

2
Democracy and Islam A Range of Opinions

• Incompatibility
• Islam is inherently undemocratic The
  Orientalists (e.g. Bernard Lewis), Western
  Politicians, Western Media,
• Democracy is alien/contrary to Islamic ethos and
  principles Muslim Traditionalists, Muslim
  fundamentalists
• Compatibility
• Islam has endorsed and promoted democratic ideas
  and ideals Early Muslim Modernisers, The
  Fundamentalists
• Suitable interpretations of Islam can incorporate
  appropriate models of democracy Modern Muslim
  intellectuals

3
Outline of an argument for the compatibility
thesis

• Islam and our understanding of Islam
• Democracy as a social construct

4
What Is This Thing Called Social Construct?

• Reality, facts (natural and social), and the
  three worlds
• Intentionality Cognitive Volitive
• Direction of Fit
• Intentionality Individual Collective

5
Social Constructs (cont.)

• Status-functions
• General formula for creation of institutional
  facts
• X counts as Y in context C
• Coherence

6
Social Constructs (cont.)

• Social Constructs Do they have Essence?
• Social Constructs Discovery of new functions
• Social Constructs How are they individuated?

7
Democracy as a social constructonce more

• Main Arenas and Organising Principles of a Mature
  Democracy
• Arena Primary organising principle
• Civil Society Freedom of association and
  communication
• Political Society Free and inclusive electoral
  contestation
• Rule of Law Constitutionalism
• State apparatus Regional-legal bureaucratic
  norms
• Economic society Institutionalised market

8
Democracy Its Rivals the Main Areas of
Assessment
9
DemocracySome useful Distinctions

• Liberalisation vs. Democratisation
• Transition to Democracy vs. Consolidation of
  Democracy
• Participatory Democracy vs.
• Representative Democracy

10
Liberalisation vs. Democratisation

• Liberalisation may entail a mix of policy and
  social changes, such as less censorship of the
  media, somewhat greater space for the
  organisation of autonomous working-class
  activities, the introduction of some legal
  safeguards for individuals such as habeas corpus,
  the releasing of the most political prisoners,
  the return of exiles, perhaps measures for
  improving the distribution of income, and most
  important, the toleration of opposition.
• Democratisation entails liberalisation but is a
  wider and more specifically political concept.
  Democratisation requires open contestation over
  the right to win control of the government, and
  this in turn requires free competitive elections,
  the result of which determine who governs.

11
Transition vs. Consolidation

• Transitions to democracy may begin that are never
  completed, even though a new authoritarian regime
  does not assume power.
• Electoralist fallacy Elections are necessary
  condition for democracy but are seen as
  sufficient conditions.

12
Consolidation

• Behaviourally, a democratic regime in a territory
  is consolidated when no significant national,
  social, economic, political, or institutional
  actors spend significant resources attempting to
  achieve their objectives by creating a
  non-democratic regime or turning to violence or
  foreign intervention to secede from the state.

13
Consolidation

• Attitudinally, a democratic regime is
  consolidated when a strong majority of public
  opinion holds the belief that democratic
  procedures and institutions are the most
  appropriate way to govern collective life in a
  society such as theirs and when the support for
  anti-system alternatives is quite small or more
  or less isolated from the pro-democratic forces.

14
Consolidation

• Constitutionally, a democratic regime is
  consolidated when governmental and
  non-governmental forces alike, throughout the
  territory of the state, become subjected to, and
  habituated to, the resolution of conflict within
  the specific laws, procedures, and institutions
  sanctioned by the new democratic process.

15
Participatory vs. Representative Democracy

• Representative Democracy is Characterised by
• Voting and Competitive elections among
  predetermined choices
• A procedural system of checks and balances
  designed to control private interests
• Solutions developed by government officials and
  technical experts
• The use of persuasion, debate, and advocacy to
  win consent
• Limited citizen involvement

16
Participatory vs. Representative Democracy

• Participatory Democracy is characterised by
• Cooperative activities to determine what the
  choices are
• An inclusive system of opportunities for pursuing
  the publics interests and common good
• Solutions developed by citizens in collaboration
  with government and technical experts
• The use of dialogue, deliberation, and discussion
  to achieve an action-oriented consensus
• Active citizen involvement

17
Three Organizing Principles of Democracy

• 1- Democratic Politics
• Complementary participatory and representative
  institutions, within a context of globally aware
  egalitarian political system (representative
  institutions designed to support and incorporate
  direct citizen participation).
• Respect for essential civil rights and liberties.

18
Three Organizing Principles of Democracy

• 2- Democratic Community
• Face-to-face human interaction on terms of
  equality as a means to nurture mutual respect,
  emotional bonds, and recognition of commonalities
  among citizens.
• Intercommunity cultural pluralism
• Extensive opportunities for each citizen to hold
  multiple memberships across diverse spectrum of
  communities.

19
Three Organizing Principles of Democracy

• 3- Democratic Work
• Equal and extensive opportunities to participate
  in self-actualizing work experiences.
• Diversified careers, flexible life scheduling,
  and citizen sabbaticals.

20
Democracy State

• The more the population of the territory of the
  state is composed of pluri-national, lingual,
  religious, or cultural societies, the more
  complex the politics becomes because an agreement
  on the fundamentals of a democracy will be more
  difficult.
• Although this does not mean that democracy cannot
  be consolidated in multinational or multicultural
  states, it does mean that considerable political
  crafting of democratic norms, practices, and
  institutions must take place.
• Some ways of dealing with the problems of
  stateness are inherently incompatible with
  democracy.

21
Islamic Democracy How is it possible?

• Social Constructs Values and Norms
• Social Constructs Ways of Classification
• Social Constructs Instruments and Value-bearers
• Various Interpretations of Islam Democracy
• Progressive Degenerative Research Programmes
  for constructing models of Islamic Democracy
• Islamic Democracies Critical Assessments

22
The Limits of Islamicness

• Islamic Science Vs. Islamic Technology
• Are there such things as Islamic Banks (Banking
  System), and Islamic Economics?

23
Outline of a Proposed Model of Islamic Democracy

• The Democracy Component A combination of
  Representative and Participatory models of
  Democracy

24
Outline of a Proposed Model of Islamic Democracy

• The Islamic Component A Critical Rationalist
  Interpretation
• Faith Belief Revelation Religion and Reason

25
Outline of a Proposed Model of Islamic Democracy
(Cont.)

• The significance of Tradition
• Tradition, Pluralism and the survival of the
  fittest
• Tradition and the Basic Human Values
• The operative ideal of siblinghood of humanity
• Covenant vs. Contract
• A society built on social contract is maintained
  by an external force, the monopoly within the
  state of the justified use of coercive power. A
  covenant, by contrast, is maintained by an
  internalised sense of identity, kinship, loyalty,
  obligation, responsibility and reciprocity.
  Parties can disengage from a contract when it is
  no longer to their mutual benefit to continue. A
  covenant binds them even - perhaps especially, in
  difficult times. This is because a covenant is
  not predicated on interests, but instead on
  loyalty, fidelity, holding together even when
  things seem to be driving apart.

26
Islamic Democracy

• Local Difficulties and Global Issues
• The role of the intellectuals and the
  significance of the civil societies