includes index and biblioraphy

Democracy in Muslim Societies: The Asian Experience explores the character of the political transformation and democratic transition in Asian Muslim societies. It asks whether democracy is appropriate and desirable as a political system for non-western societies, and assess the extent of actual democratisation in each of the countries studied, namely Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan and Turkey. The book questions the widely held view that the socio-political ethos of Islam as a religion, and Muslim countries as societal units, prevents Muslims from adopting democracy as a form of government. The contributors argue that his perception comes from post 9/11 studies of Arab states and non-Arab Muslim populations in Asia and Africa do not fit the same mould. At the same time, it is clear that a single model of democracy cannot work across these six countries because each country has a different history and has tread on a different path in the quest for democracy.