Islam and Democracy

His first explanation implicates that there must be something within the Islam or Arab culture or religion, that prevents the formation of a democratic society. Because as Alfred Stepan and Graeme Robertson stated, the “democracy gap” among states in the world is an Arab gap much more than a “Muslim” gap as there are eight, non-Arab Muslim-majority states that have democratic

Democracy: A political system in which citizens enjoy a number of basic civil and political rights, and in which their most important political leaders are elected in free and fair elections and accountable under a rule of law (26). In the studies we have undertaken, comparing and exploring various countries and systems politically, economically, and psychologically throughout the quarter, this outcry of democracy has prevailed as a main theme. Successful countries such as the United States and Great Britain are based upon such democratic ideals. It is no wonder that countries have striven more recently toward this goal of democratization. Both the Russian and Mexican revolutions prove that democracy is an attainable goal in the next

Democracy, while imperfect, is the system of ruling prevalent in vast tracks of the world. Despite this, democracy is not a uniform system with every country practicing its democracy in slightly unique ways.

Democracy is considered as a peaceful entity and the world without war. American President Woodrow Wilson, for example, believes that “democracy is inherently peace desiring and consequently contributes to the world peace, replacing war-like political regime (Gat, 2006)”. Democracy is a system of government, consisted of four key elements. Firstly, it is a means of choosing the leaders of the citizens and replacing the government through an election. It is also called a representative democracy as people vote for their representatives to deal with problems and issues in their societies as well as in their states to improve the lives of citizens. Secondly, people actively participate in the public in a democracy. Democracy depends on the participation of the citizens, and it must be peaceful and open-minded of the various views of other groups and individuals. Thirdly, every individual has the rights, which the state cannot take away from him or her in a democracy. In other words, the human rights of all citizens are protected by the democracy. Finally, democracy is a system of rule by laws of people, not by individuals, and it maintains an order of the government and limits their power as well as protecting the rights of citizens. Every person is equal under the law (Barkawi and Laffey, 2001). Further, Democracy is widely supported by liberal thinkers such as John Locke and Immanuel Kant, and liberalism is the leading theory, which supports democracy and identifies the

Current Issues, 35th edition, examines both the pros and cons of spreading democracy. This text explains that promoting democracy is in the U.S. national interest because democracy creates a safer, more stable world. Democratic nations cooperate with other nations and the U.S. better because they are more answerable to their citizens. The text also claims that such nations will deny terrorists from a base from which to plan and carry out attacks.

Aside from stability and loyalty which democracy brought into our society, we have seen inequality that generates conflicts. These conflicts can be seen in class, race and gender.

One of the long-standing pursuits of the human well-being among scholars is the notion of the ‘democracy’. Initially, the word ‘democracy’ is derived from the Greek word ‘demos’ and ‘cratein’, which mean ‘common people’s rule’. Despite having some disputes over the exact meaning of this word and comprehension, the types of the democracy, and its wave, the meaning is mainly considered as ‘government or rule by the people’ throughout the world (Terence 2014).

However, the further a culture drifts from those views, that culture becomes less compatible with that form of government. Democracy, in its many forms, maintains that the people/subjects, as one, are worthy of making choices for themselves. In democracy, people are willing and able to make morally sensible choices and will stand by their choices in a spirit of mutual respect. In addition, democracy is drawn from the meaning of right and wrong and value of life that supersedes the laws of the land. Christianity teaches the same doctrines, making it the most natural cultural fit for democracy. Other worldviews can collaborate with democracy; though, they do not have the same natural ties as Christianity. Thus, democracy is indeed a Christian form of

Democracy is, according to the online Cambridge dictionary, ‘a system of government based on the belief in freedom and equality between people, in which power is either held by elected representatives or directly by the people themselves’. It is the policy that most western countries strive to achieve. It is now the pinnacle of government, that to achieve a wholly democratic nation is something worth celebrating. It is displayed as a universal good but it’s not everything that it has become known to be. I should clarify that I still think that I prefer it to nearly all other forms of government but nevertheless I still think that it is not what we have been led to believe it is. In this essay I will be outlining the key problems that could

Throughout the course of time, democracy is now becoming widely accepted by a majority of countries. As countries become generally educated, democracy is become favorable. As the liberation Technology becomes an acceptable way of education, countries seek the freedom of technology. Liberation technology also allows for other people to look at the democracy of the United States and share ideas. As citizens become more educated and have greater income, the democracy’s popularity grows. The freedom of working and profiting from their own money makes people of other countries look at democracy with envy. Moderate religious practices, not including extreme religions, provide a moral grounding for a system that respects the freedom and dignity of

Americans tend to believe that writing an essay is so easy and fast. Have you ever thought about the list of components that go into a good essay? In fact a good essay addresses the main point and tells the reader what he or she will discuss and where they are going with it. An essay will also state the main ideas clearly. As writers we tend to sometimes use or leave out these important factors. Two authors by the names of Julius Nyerere and Benazir Bhutto; wrote two essays based on the topic of democracy and the struggles that go along with it. Nyerere’s essay titled One-Party Government emphasizes that a democracy can also be represented in a one-party government. On the other hand Bhutto’s essay Islam and Democracy focuses on the illusion that the west is the reason Muslim countries lack democracy. Bhutto’s essay was better in many ways. She convinces me that her essay was the best by providing relatable background information, and expressing both sides of the Western and Islamic beliefs on democracy and equality.

However, embedded in the prejudices and customs of the dominating (majority) class of a democracy is occurrences that do not secure liberty. Hence, a society ruled by democracy will not also progress towards routine protections of minority and individual liberty. Inherent in a democratic society are rival, and contradictory, faiths, beliefs, and interests. The problem becomes: which of these interests, beliefs, and faiths should be tolerated? Moreover, which of these should be suppressed? If there is a principle of legitimacy in a democracy it is that the will of the people (the majority or, the dominating class in power) are the source of social authority. Therefore, the majority can choose to bring the minority under a social regulation that takes away the very liberties the minority is afforded in democratic

Some scholars are arguing about the contradiction between Islam and Democracy while others say that there is no official decisive evidence in the main Islamic scripts. According the Islam the leader (khalifa) of the country or nation should be chosen by the people, but there is no clear method for re-elect after a period of time which make it a hesitation point in Islamic ideology. Others think that all these issues should be taken from the modern books where the movement of society needs are more applicable toward the new generation and the first world. However, the Middle East has a different story in the process of democratizing and still have a long way through since it has both Islam, Christianity, Jewish and other ethnic groups which make it more complicated in term of dealing with the process toward the democracy. The Arabic world has big range of counties which have many similarities, but also many differences, therefore we will focus on the African region in particular Egypt and Tunisia.

Over the last century, the Middle East has been the location of ethnic rivalry, political and economic instability, religious conflict, territorial dispute and war. Much of this tension in the Middle East comes from the various interpretations of Islam and how the religion should be applied to politics and society. Over the last ten years, the United States and their allies have pushed to promote democracy in the Middle East. However, they too have many obstacles they must overcome. They face problems such as the compatibility of Islamic law and democracy, the issue of women’s rights, and there is always the problem of how to go about implementing a democratic reform in these countries. Many initially would assume that it is only the

The politicization of religion and the wrong approach to the problem of secular-Islamic relationships can