Ugg
Apr 21, 2004, 08:19 PM
Link (http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,1199902,00.html)
An unfortunate fact of life is that most Muslim countries have bad systems of government.
Before jumping to conclusions about why this might be, it is worth noting that the same could have been said of Roman Catholic countries about 35 years ago. A look at the world map then would have shown numerous countries, in Latin America, eastern Europe and elsewhere, that had predominantly Catholic populations ruled by authoritarian regimes.
It might have been tempting at the time to suggest a connection between their religion and their politics, but it was more a matter of history and circumstances, and events since then have shown that Catholic countries are as capable of adapting to democracy as any others.
Equally, there is nothing in mainstream Islamic teaching that says Muslim countries can't have genuine democracy, and, in practice, various Islamist organisations have shown themselves ready to engage in democratic processes when the opportunity arose. more.....
It's a good article, one of a series about the growing pains of democratic institutions in the middle east. It's well worth a read.
An unfortunate fact of life is that most Muslim countries have bad systems of government.
Before jumping to conclusions about why this might be, it is worth noting that the same could have been said of Roman Catholic countries about 35 years ago. A look at the world map then would have shown numerous countries, in Latin America, eastern Europe and elsewhere, that had predominantly Catholic populations ruled by authoritarian regimes.
It might have been tempting at the time to suggest a connection between their religion and their politics, but it was more a matter of history and circumstances, and events since then have shown that Catholic countries are as capable of adapting to democracy as any others.
Equally, there is nothing in mainstream Islamic teaching that says Muslim countries can't have genuine democracy, and, in practice, various Islamist organisations have shown themselves ready to engage in democratic processes when the opportunity arose. more.....
It's a good article, one of a series about the growing pains of democratic institutions in the middle east. It's well worth a read.
