Muslim Democracy in the Making! Of Pragmatism and Values of AKP’s Selective Democratization Project

Abstract

The AKP’s governing project in Turkey has been widely studied as the example par excellence and the most paradigmatic case of Muslim democracy in the making. The underlying synthesis between Islam and democracy, coupled with three terms of almost absolute ruling majority, has rendered the AKP’s governing experience a unique empirical laboratory in which to analyze the traits, dynamics and prospects of democracy cum Islamic values project. How can one assess its governing experience? What are the “dubious” areas of contestation? And what do they tell us about the institutional configuration of ongoing democratization in Turkey?

Keywords: Islamic-rooted parties; religious moderation; comparative democratization; Turkey