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Do Muslims Vote Islamic?, Charles Kurzman, Ijlal Naqvi
Do Muslims Vote Islamic?, Charles Kurzman, Ijlal Naqvi
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Islamic parties have won parliamentary elections in several countries in recent years, leading some observers to speculate that Muslims vote Islamic whenever they are given the chance. However, a review of every parliamentary election in Muslim societies over the past 40 years shows that Islamic parties often compete and rarely win—and the freer the election, the worse these parties perform. In addition, an unprecedented collection of Islamic party platforms shows that Islamic parties have transformed since the 1980s, publicly endorsing democracy and women's rights and de-emphasizing shari'a and jihad. This record suggests that Islamic parties have embraced elections more than …
The Islamists Are Not Coming, Charles Kurzman, Ijlal Naqvi
The Islamists Are Not Coming, Charles Kurzman, Ijlal Naqvi
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Do Muslims automatically vote Islamic? That's the concern conjured up by strongmen from Tunis to Tashkent, and plenty of Western experts agree. They point to the political victories of Islamc parties in Egypt, Palestine, and Turkey in recent years and warn that more elections across the Islamic world could turn power over to anti-democratic fundamentalists.