Search

Since Mali's democratization in 1992, the state has very often appeared to be failing and has always elicited very little popular support. As public authorities lost their legitimacy, the legitimacy of moral and religious authorities was strengthened. The recent dynamics of Islam, and the influence of particular Islamic figures in the Malian political arena, may seem unprecedented; however, there has always been seepage between Islam and the political sphere, in whatever time-frame. The difference between past conditions and present is the scale of Islamic authorities' influence in the public sphere. The considerable political influence wielded by the Islamic figures means that in present times they are free of all state control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]