Islam and democracy in the Middle East - The impact of religious Orientations on attitudes toward democracy in four Arab countries

This article explores the impact of religious orientations on attitudes toward democracy through public opinion data collected in Morocco, Algeria, Palestine (West Bank and Gaza), and Egypt. Personal piety is not related to prodemocracy attitudes among men in any country or among women in Morocco, Gaza, and Egypt in 1992 but is inversely related to such attitudes among women in Algeria, the West Bank, and Egypt in 1988. Support for Islamist movements and platforms is in all cases unrelated to prodemocracy attitudes. These findings are relevant to arguments about democracy and Islam in the Arab world, democratic transitions more generally, and research in western countries on the influence of religion on political attitudes.