Source: Carnegie

In a new paper, Democracy and Constituencies in the Arab World, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace analyst Marina Ottaway argues that Islamist organizations may in fact be the key to building broad-based constituencies for democracy in the Arab world today. Access the paper at www.carnegieendowment.org/democracy.

Democracy advocates in the Middle East tend to be intellectual elites with little reach into their own societies. On the other hand, the major constituency-based Arab organizations are either ruling parties, which build a following on patronage, or Islamist parties, which build it on faith and ideological commitment. "With democratic elites poorly embedded in society and embedded elites poorly committed to democracy, discussions of political reform in Arab countries are vigorous, but actual change is slow and carefully limited to prevent any real challenge to incumbent regimes," she writes.

Enter Islamist organizations. The seemingly paradoxical idea that they could contribute to the spread of democracy should not be dismissed. While not intrinsically oriented toward democracy, many Islamist organizations have a broad following. Thus, if they came to see democracy as a means to promote at least some of the change they want, they could provide the mass support to bring about a political transition. By rejecting democracy, they would make a transition virtually impossible. Leaders of some Islamist groups are now taking a stand against violence and in favor of the democratic process, and this is an encouraging sign.

Marina Ottaway is a senior associate with the Carnegie Endowment’s Middle East Political Reform Initiative. The Initiative offers analysis and practical experience on whether and how political reform could occur in the Arab world and what the United States and other external actors can do to encourage such change. Democracy and Constituencies in the Arab World is the latest paper in its Middle East Series. The full series is available at www.carnegieendowment.org/mepripubs.