Religion and Politics

Lead Article

"Religious Regulation and the Muslim Democracy Gap"
by Ani Sarkissian
Michigan State University

Abstract
This article argues that high levels of government regulation of religion help to explain the “democracy gap” in majority Muslim countries. Controlling for previously hypothesized determinants of democracy, it finds that as levels of regulation increase, levels of democracy decline. Examination of specific types of religious regulation in Muslim-majority countries uncovers a pattern of repression of religious expression that may be used to mobilize citizens politically. These regulations are targeted more often at Muslims who seek independence from state-controlled religion or who wish to challenge authoritarian governments, rather than at non-Muslim minorities or at religious worship more generally. Thus, authoritarian and semi-authoritarian regimes in Muslim-majority states successfully use policies toward religion to restrict political competition and inhibit democratic transition.

Looking for copies of Section Journal

I am writing to see if you have, or know of anyone, who might have two
copies of Politics and Religion, Volumes 1-3? The journal has just been
accepted for indexing in the American Theological Library Association
(ATLA) database, and needs two copies of each issue from the first 3 years
of the journal. If you have any leads on people who might have copies,
please let me know.

You may also have just seen the email that Politics and Religion was
accepted for indexing in the SSCI, starting in 2012. The journal will
receive a 2014 impact factor in 2015. This is fabulous news and I hope
that everyone in the section is very proud of the journal and all the hard
work that has gone into it!

Kind regards,

Gillian

Gillian Greenough
Editor
Cambridge University Press
32 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10013-2473 USA

Email. ggreenough@cambridge.org

Submissions Invited

Dear Professor Hussin,

Religion and Politics is a peer-reviewed European journal that wishes to publish a special edition on religion and politics in the United States. The anticipated publication date for the edition is either November, 2013, or May 2014. I have been asked to be the guest editor for the special edition and wish to inform colleagues of this opportunity. Is it possible to invite submissions to the special edition through the Politics and Religion section of the APSA? I can provide information about the journal, manuscript requirements, topics of interest, and so forth.

Thank you for your help.

Regards,

Don

Dr. Donald L. Davison – Ddavison@rollins.edu
Professor of Political Science

1000 Holt Ave

Rollins College

Winter Park, FL 32789

Call for proposals from Brian Calfano – October 5 deadline!

Dear APSA Section Members:

As I’m sure you already know, the proposal deadline for the Midwest Political Science Association conference is
fast approaching. I am the Religion and Politics program chair for the
Midwest conference this year, and I'd like to invite you to submit a
proposal and join me in Chicago from April 11-14, 2013. I have no
particular agenda for this meeting other than to assemble high quality
panels for you to deliver your work, have engaging conversations, and
gain valuable feedback.

As usual, the MPSA is open to a wide variety of formats beyond traditional panels, including author meets critics, topical roundtables, or anything else you can dream up. One innovation is the conference within a conference, in which participants gather at a variety of panels and have conversations around specific themes. I'm open to just about anything.

The submission window is open through this Friday, **October 5**.

Brian Calfano, Missouri State University

Associate Professor of Political Science

Missouri State University

901 S. National Avenue

Springfield, MO 65897

http://people.missouristate.edu/briancalfano/

Iza Hussin Assumes Chair of the Section

From the faculty profile page – Political Science Department, University of Chicago:

Iza Hussin’s recent work has focussed upon the mobility of law and legal projects in empire, and upon the politics of Islamic law in both contemporary and colonial periods. Her book on the transformation of Islamic law and the Muslim state during British colonisation in India, Malaya and Egypt, The Politics of Islamic Law: Local Elites, Colonial Authority and the Making of the Muslim State, is forthcoming from the University of Chicago Press. Recent publications in journals and edited volumes include: “The Pursuit of the Perak Regalia: Law and the Making of the Colonial State,” Law and Social Inquiry 32:3 (2007); “Ethnicity, Religion and the Paradox of Jurisdiction: Two Malaysian Cases,” Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law, 2010; and “The Making of Islamic Law: Local Elites and Colonial Authority in British Malaya,” in Thomas Dubois, ed. Casting Faiths: Technology and the Creation of Religion in East and Southeast Asia, Palgrave Macmillan 2008. Her new research includes a collaborative project on Internet fatwa and a second book project on the mobility of law across the Indian Ocean arena.

Professor Hussin’s work is based upon comparative, archival and textual research in Arabic, Malay and English texts across various sites of empire and legal transformation, and has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. She has been a Fellow in Islamic Legal Studies at Harvard Law School and is a recipient of awards from the American Political Science Association and the International Convention of Asia Scholars.