Why No Democracy in the Arab-Muslim World? The Importance of Temple Financing and Tax Farming
Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: The absence of a single democracy in the Arab-Muslim world has become a “striking\nanomaly” for scholars of democratization. The lack of democratization in this part of\nthe world cannot be seen as caused religion as such since there are by now several\nstates with a majority of Muslims that have become democracies. Several other\nexplanations such as values, culture, economic development, rulers’ access to natural\nresources or the history of colonialism have been refuted. We present a novel\nexplanation for this puzzle that is based on historical variations in “temple financing”.\nIn Northwestern Europe, religion and also secular services managed by local religious\ninstitutions have been financed “from below” creating local systems for semidemocratic\nrepresentation, transparency and accountability. In the Arab-Muslim\nregion, religion and local secular services have been financed “from above” by private\nfoundations that have lacked systems for representation and accountability. It is thus\nnot religion, but how religion has been financed, that is the explanation for the lack of\ndemocracy in the Arab-Muslim world.
Authors: Bo Rothstein, Rasmus Broms
Language: English
Topic: Islamic Studies and History
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1486044557