Adata-drivenexplanationofwhensuccessfulreligiouspartiesreducethecivillibertiesoftheircitizensinMuslim-majoritycountriesandwhentheydon’t.Religiouspartiesareincreasinglycommonacrosstheworld.Moreandmore,theyparticipateinelections,winlegislativeseats,andjoingovernments,particularlyinMuslim-majoritycountries.Sincetheyareoftenfoundedonorthodoxprinciplesthatareinconsistentwithliberaldemocracy,theirrisepotentiallyholdsconsequencesfortheprospectsofliberaldemocraticvaluesandpractices-andthisriskhasinspiredmuchheateddebate.InReligiousPartiesandthePoliticsofCivilLiberties,theaward-winningpoliticalsciencescholarVineetaYadavconsidersaquestionthathasbeencentraltothediscussion:Willthesuccessofreligiouspartiesleadtodeclinesinthecivillibertiesoftheircitizens?Yadavsummarizesthepopularandacademicsidesoftheconversationandaddressestheweaknessesofbothbypresentinganoriginalempiricalanalysisofreligiousparties’actualrelationshiptocivilliberties.Manybelievethatifreligiouspartiescometopower,theywillcurbcivillibertiesinordertorealizetheirreligiousvisions.Academicresearchonreligiousparties,however,claimsthattheneedtocompeteinelectionsincentivizesreligiouspartiestomoderatetheirbehaviorsandpolicies,includingoncivilliberties.Neitheroftheseassertionshasbeensystematicallytesteduntilnow.Withthisbook,YadavadjudicatesthedebateusingsystematicdatathatcoversallMuslim-majoritycountriesforaperiodofalmostfortyyears.Shehighlightstherolethatreligiouslobbiesplayinthisissueandgoesontoidentifythespecificconditionsunderwhichreligiouspartiesdoordon’tcurbcivilliberties.Asweepingcomparativeaccountthatcombineslarge-NanalysiswithfocusedstudiesofTurkeyandPakistan,thisbookwillreshapeourunderstandingoftherelationshipbetweenreligiouspartystrengthandthepreservationofcivilliberties.
PARTIES RELIGIOUS ADATA LIBERTIES
