Religion and Democracy Can religious obedience be reconciled with the workings of democracy? –If democracy is about procedures, there is very little in any religion to contradict it. Elections. –If democracy is more than procedures and it includes liberal rights, the relationship is more complex. Abortion, divorce, drinking…

Is Islam different? Is it more difficult for Islam to come to terms with democracy? –If we look at democracy as procedures, Islam contains the seeds of democracy. There are a number of religious concepts that can be used to support democratic rule. The empirical findings demonstrate that democracy is not really a Muslim problem rather an Arab one, which suggests explanations are not to be found in the religion.

Sovereignty of God and Sovereignty of the people It is said that Islam requires ‘submission’ and therefore cannot deal with popular sovereignty. –This is true for all great monotheistic religions relying on sacred texts. –God’s will can be delegated though. We all know that God is not here to rule us in practice so we need to find a system to govern society even if ‘in God we trust.’

Islam and Liberalism This is where the problems arise, but it is not so different from what other religions have to contend with. –What are the liberal rights that should underpin a democracy? –How do we as a society make these decisions?

Islam and democracy Ultimately the debate about the relationship between Islam and Democracy, particularly when it comes to their compatibility, is meaningless because it cannot be solved by reading through religious texts.. It is much more interesting and useful to analyse the concrete behaviour of political actors using religion as an instrument of mobilisation (Brumberg, 2002).