Comparative Public Policy and Religious Pressure Groups in Turkey and Pakistan

Abstract

Religious institutions have currently emerged as more powerful actors than ever before in many Muslim countries. This matter necessitates reassessing the role of organized religion in policy-making processes in such countries. This paper is a comparative study, analyzing the role of the religious institutions, as pressure groups, in government policy in Pakistan and Turkey. Since there have been very few research projects working on comparative studies on religious pressure groups in Muslim-majority countries, this paper seeks to fill the gap through secondary research. The findings indicate that in Turkey, the common aims and interests have bound the Islamic parties and institutions together, currently emerging as a powerful political actor, challenging the strict secular system of the country. Nonetheless, the Pakistani institutions have increasingly exchanged violence for the implementation of Islamic law. The Turkish Islamic movement have a more united structure than the Pakistani ones. Nonetheless, the role and status of such groups have significantly changed over time in both countries. Likewise, amongst the two countries' religious institutions, the Turkish mostly use civic tactics to gain power from the people, while the Pakistani ones undertake sabotage activities as leverage against the government.