Islamic Movements Engaging with Democracy: Front Islamique Du Salut (FIS) and the Democratic Experiment in Algeria

The recent political developments in the Arab world, in general, and in the North African states like Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, in particular, develop new enthusiasm on the interaction between Islam/Islamism/Islamic movements and democracy; especially with the institutions and practices of western liberal democracy. Islamist groups have become a critical factor in the larger politics of those states and the central focus of any serious debate on political liberalisation and democratisation in the Arab world. The 1990s witnessed a revival of Islamism in the political sphere through the increasing participation of Islamists in elections and the democratic process. It has raised some new debates on the fundamental question of the compatibility of Islam and democracy. Such debates, at times, challenged the dominant western pre-supposition that Islam and democracy are incompatible. It has become crucial in the widely discussed ‘post September 11’ global context where many groups in the west project Islamism and Islamic movements as the biggest threat to modern liberal–democratic states. The Algerian experiment with democracy in the late 1980s, which this article discusses in detail, was the first such experiment in the Arab world where Islamists actively participated in a liberal democratic election process. The developments that had taken place after the victory of Islamists in this election were crucial in framing an Islamist approach to democracy thereafter.