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1. Islamist Parties as Strategic Actors: Electoral Participation and Its Consequences
- University of Pennsylvania Press
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Chapter 1 Islamist Parties as Strategic Actors: Electoral Participation and Its Consequences quinn mecham Islamists are participating in their political systems more than ever before. Whereas electoral participation by self-identified Islamist movements was rather novel in many parts of the Muslim world in the 1990s (with the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in Algeria, Islamic Action Front (IAF) in Jordan , or Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP) in Tajikistan providing major challenges to their political systems), Islamist participation in elections has become the norm in a wide variety of countries, from Egypt to Indonesia, and Morocco to Pakistan. Though ‘‘participation’’ in these systems varies widely, and political freedom remains a concern in most Muslim-majority countries, Islamists now have an established track record of electoral participation . With caution (because of the real discrepancies in the level of regime constraints), we can now assess how Islamists participate, when they succeed and fail, how they affect their political systems, and how they change as a result of their participation. In the majority of cases, though not all, Islamists are participating in the form of legal political parties, or blocs of political independents that behave like parties. While Islamist parties usually share a strong ideological orientation and anti-system orientation with parties of these other types, they are unique in the symbolic and institutional reference points that provide commonalities between these parties across vast geographies and large variation in political systems. In particular, Islamist parties speak a common language of shared references about what is right and wrong, share a mythical history of the glory days of the original Islamic community (umma), have common scriptural and linguistic (Arabic) referents, share some expectations on legal 18 Quinn Mecham issues (through knowledge of the shari’a), and have a common understanding of the negative role of Western imperialism, with particular reference to perceived injustices in Palestine. In addition to this shared normative and cultural content, Islamist parties often have unique access to the institutional richness of Islamic schools, mosques, endowments (awqaf), and social networks, which are often the dominant form of social organization outside the family in the societies in which they operate. This access to the mobilizing potential of Islamic institutions is without parallel in the radical right or radical left, and is comparable only with other religious parties with similar institutional legacies (Jewish, Hindu, Catholic, etc.). These shared characteristics are what make a meaningful comparison of Islamist parties possible across such diverse geographies as Indonesia, Yemen, and Turkey. This chapter proceeds as follows. First, I highlight some of the general characteristics of Islamist parties in two areas: their political platforms and their political constituents. In the process, I introduce several questions regarding the relationship between the parties, their platforms, and their constituents. This is followed by a brief discussion of the variety of political regimes under which Islamist parties operate, and some potential mechanisms by which regime type affects the political opportunities for these parties. I then turn to a discussion of the strategic incentives of Islamist parties, making assumptions about the parties’ political objectives , and assessing how the pursuit of these objectives may play out in the context of strategic opportunities and constraints. I then hypothesize why some Islamist parties are more electorally successful than others, and also how the participation of Islamist parties affects both the systems in which they compete and the parties themselves. I conclude with potential implications for how the participation of Islamist parties may affect the future of political Islam. Platforms and Constituencies Islamist parties share Islam as a common reference point in formulating their political platforms, but they vary in how prominent and explicit Islam is in their political agenda. The Islamic content of political platforms ranges from the direct advocacy of an Islamic state based in shari’a to more general aspirations for communal morality based in Islamic principles (illustrated by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey). Whether Islam is [18.234.202.202] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 14:55 GMT) Islamist Parties as Strategic Actors 19 at the front and center or embedded within general principles of the political platform, it can be highlighted when politically useful, or downplayed as necessary, as political platforms are malleable in the process of politics. The malleability of the political platform is often strategically useful, and many Islamist parties have shied away from too much detail in explaining their vision for governance. This allows them to avoid controversial or sensitive subjects while criticizing their competitors with...