In recent years, the Middle East has witnessed several examples of religious parties coming to power. These parties have usually encountered problems when it comes to dealing with a democratic system of governance. This has led to the fall of some — such as in Egypt — or to major challenges in terms of democratic values, such as human rights and public freedoms. Why are religious parties unable to deal with democracy? Is it the lack of necessary experience in governance, or are there other fundamental issues —linked to the intellectual and ideological structure of the religious parties — behind the problem?
Historically, Middle Eastern societies have been confronted with democratic systems of governance in a sudden manner. This has resulted in a great shock within these societies, particularly among intellectuals. In contrast, democracy came to the West gradually, through centuries of cognitive theories developed by thinkers of the Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment eras, and accumulated human experiments. Moreover, some aspects of a democratic system have been present in European societies since the Middle Ages. The most important of these aspects — when making a comparison with the Middle East — is the relative separation between the political and religious authorities within various systems of governance in Europe.