No. 97: Religious Institutions and Democratization

The topic of this issue of the Caucasus Analytical Digest is “Religious Institutions and Democratization”. Fuad Aliyev discusses the role played by the Caucasus Muslims Board during the state building process of post-Soviet Azerbaijan and its potential for supporting democratization in the country, coming to the conclusion that there is little chance to engage the board in the democratization process, though it still should be included in relevant public debates given its potential ability to influence Azerbaijani society and impact the country’s political agenda in the long term; Salome Minesashvili posits that the Georgian Orthodox Church’s (repeatedly named as the most trusted institution in the country) stance on democracy-related issues and reforms has already impacted political decision-making on a number of occasions and analyzes the attitudes, values and behavior of the GOC in the context of their compatibility with democratic values and explores the potential to engage the GOC in the reform process as well as to include it in public and political debates; Narek Mkrtchyan proposes that the Armenian Apostolic Church, although it is one of the most trusted institutions in Armenia and thus has real potential to impact the country’s political decision-making processes, plays an important role in establishing and supporting the hegemony and legitimacy of the ruling regime, which makes them loyal to each other’s policies and ideologies.