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| Arabia |
| Mid-East Democracy Deficit due to Arab Conquest |
| 2012-03-24 |
| I examine the determinants of the Arab world's democratic deficit in 2010. I Önd that the percent of a country's landmass that was conquered by Arab armies following the death of the prophet Muhammad statistically accounts for this deficit. Using history as a guide, I hypothesize that this pattern reflects the long-run influence of control structures developed under Islamic empires in the pre-modern era and Önd that the available evidence is consistent with this interpretation. Once one accounts for the 28 countries conquered by Arab armies, the evolution of democracy in the remaining 15 Muslim-majority countries since 1960 largely mirrors that of the rest of the developing world. If the Arab League's democratic deficit today can be traced to the long-term effects of the region's institutions, what institutional developments following the Arab conquests had such enduring an enduring impact? I use history and recent scholarship as a guide to suggest that this pattern reflects the long-run ináuence of control structures developed under Islamic empires in the pre-modern era. This literature suggests that these historic control structures have left a legacy of weak civil societies where political power is concentrated today in the hands of military and religious leaders that work to perpetuate the status quo. |
| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |