Subnational Islamization through Secular Parties: Comparing Shari'a Politics in Two Indonesian Provinces

The Arab Spring has reinvigorated debate about the impact of Islamist groups on policymaking, particularly the adoption and implementation of Islamic law (shari'a), in democratizing, Muslim-majority countries.Most studies on shari'a policymaking emphasize the causal primacy of Islamist parties operating within formal institutions and describe how, in the context of democratization, Islamist parties press for the adoption of shari'a law in opposition to secular elites who controlled the state.For instance, Islamist parties in Pakistan in the 1960s, in Afghanistan and Egypt in the 1970s, in Turkey in the 1980s, in Central Asia in the early 1990s, as well as in Nigeria and Yemen in the late 1990s pushed for shari'a law after the political systems in these countries had become more democratic. 1his narrow focus on Islamist parties operating within the boundaries of formal institutions and party systems may obscure important dynamics behind shari'a policymaking.Concentrating on Islamist parties insufficiently addresses the possibility that elites affiliated with secular parties or the military may pursue shari'a agendas, as has occurred on various occasions in Bangladesh, Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Sudan. 2 Focusing on Islamist parties also underestimates the potential of relatively unorganized Islamist groups to influence policymaking.Furthermore, focusing on formal institutions and party systems risks ignoring the potential policymaking influence of groups operating outside the official political arena.Most important, much of the social movement literature on political radicalization in democratizing, Muslim-majority countries implicitly assumes that the changes in political opportunity structures that facilitated Islamic groups to mobilize against the state automatically enable such groups to influence policymaking.However, one almost never has absolute control over the determination of policy agendas. 3This is especially true for democratizing, Muslimmajority countries where decades of authoritarian rule have allowed secular elites to become deeply entrenched in state institutions.Hence, the role of elites inhabiting the state in shari'a policymaking also needs to be taken into account.