1. Constitution-Making in Islamic Countries – A Theoretical Framework by Ebrahim Afsah (University of Copenhagen – Faculty of Law) 2. Designing Islamic Constitutions: Past Trends and Options for a Democratic Future by Clark Lombardi (University of Washington School of Law)
I have long been interested in the spread of constitutions that require state respect for both religious values and for liberal democratic values. Over the past eight years, I have written a number of case studies of constitutions from the Muslim world that make these twin commitments. Together these case studies made clear that countries can harmonize such commitments in very different ways. Some have adopted liberal interpretations of Islam while others adopt very narrow interpretations of rights. When it comes to liberal interpretations of Islamic constitutions, Muslim publics respond differently. They sometimes embrace the government’s generally liberal compromise and sometimes reject it. In this paper, I build on my earlier work and argue that the design of governmental institutions can affect both the interpretation of Islamic constitutions and also the public reception of an official interpretation. Of course, institutional design is not the only story. Intellectual trends and social conditions shape the range of possible interpretations in a particular country. Thus, in some countries governments will find it easy to
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3. Search for Identity: Turkey’s Identity Crisis by Semih Minareci (University of Memphis – Department of Political Science) 4. Elusive Equality: The Armenian Genocide and the Failure of Ottoman Legal Reform by Mark Movsesian (St. John’s University School of Law)
I wrote this essay for a symposium on legal issues surrounding the Armenian Genocide of 1915. In part, it is an essay in legal history. It describes how reforms in Ottoman law, designed to benefit religious minorities like Armenian Christians, perversely led to a backlash against those very minorities. The essay also contributes to the emerging field of comparative law and religion. Comparative L&R explores how different legal regimes reflect, and influence, the relationships religious communities have with the state and with each other. Here, I discuss the treatment of Christians in classical Islamic law and show why the transition to a secular, egalitarian regime proved so difficult and had such dire consequences for vulnerable communities. –Mark Movsesian
5. A Brief Introduction to the Basics of Game Theory by Matthew Jackson (Stanford University – Department of Economics)