Muslim Legislative Representation in Western Democracies.

Islamic terrorism may only be abated through political reconciliation and a "proper" amount of political representation. This research paper focuses on whether and to what extent Muslim citizens serve on various federal legislative bodies throughout the western world. Is it fair to say, for example, that Muslim communities are well assimilated in the U.S. when there is only one Congressman currently serving out of 435 who holds that particular faith? While, conversely, there are four Muslim members of the British House of Commons? In this multicase comparative analysis, I have counted all Muslim politicians serving at the federal legislative level in 2007, in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, and Israel. My initial findings point to a nation's acculturation/immigration policies, as well as its electoral procedures, as being major factors in determining the proportion of Muslim federal legislators. Are Muslims in these countries actively involved in nonviolent political exploration as advocated by theorist Hannah Arendt, or is the anti-democratic impulse currently present in many Islamic countries too culturally imbedded, as hinted by Seymour M. Lipset? Political scientists need to answer questions like these and conduct this type of research if we ever hope to solve religious conflict through the channel of representative democracy, at home and abroad. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]