Reassessing Support for Islam and Democracy in the Arab World?: Evidence from Egypt and Jordan

Abstract

A cross the Middle East, support for democracy is striking. Regional survey data throughout the Arab world indicates that levels of support for democracy enjoy consid erable majority support.1 However, the Arab world has yet to see its first full-fledged demo cratic state. Studies examining the potential for democracy in the region often analyze institutional reforms that correspond with lib eral democratic principles. Yet, students of Middle Eastern politics understand that exist ing institutional reforms, such as parliamen tary elections and greater freedoms within civil society, have done little to enhance democracy in the region. In fact, the liberaliz ing tendencies of the 1990s have further solid ified authoritarian rule.2 Although these reforms have allowed for greater civic and political participation, they have also been accompanied by further repression and the continued monopolization of regime power. Today, democracy in the Arab world is, at best, a remote possibility. In this conundrum of democratization, where institutional liberalizing reforms have been linked to further authoritarian consolidation and