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How do Islamists get non-Islamists to vote for them? The existing literature suggests that what drives support for Islamist parties are macro-social transformations, Islamic culture, or Islamist party moderation. These approaches do not explain the variation in Islamist electoral performance. Why do Islamists win elections in some but not in other, very similar, contexts? This article identifies the important role of local elite recruitment and organizational cohesiveness in Islamist electoral performance. It applies the subnational comparative method to demonstrate the causal mechanisms linking local party organizations to Islamist electoral success. Empirical evidence is drawn from in-depth studies of the Justice and Development Party's (AKP) local branches in three closely-matched pairs of cities in Turkey. The findings bridge the literatures on political Islam and party politics with a new theory of Islamist electoral strategy and performance.

What is the role of civil society in geopolitical conflict? The crisis in Ukraine has, once again, raised questions over security in the post‐communist world. This article examines the puzzling variation in the antimissile defense shield protests in the Czech Republic and Poland (2007‐09) to elucidate the conditions under which civil society emerges as a significant actor in international politics. Activists in the Czech Republic staged seven times as many antishield protests as their Polish counterparts despite the two countries' similar levels of popular opposition to the project. The variation in the responses of the Polish and Czech activists resulted from the different material and legacy‐driven ideological constraints faced by the civil society organizations. The findings suggest that the scholarship on contentious civic activism should take organization‐level opportunities and constraints seriously when analyzing the impact of civil society on political processes.Related Articles

Stegmaier, Mary, and
Klara Vlachova. 2009. "." Politics & Policy 37 (): 799–820. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2009.00199.x/abstract


Smyth, Regina. 2014. "." Politics & Policy 42 (): 567–592. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12080/abstract


Ishiyama, John. 2006. "." Politics & Policy 34 (): 3–29. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2006.00002.x/abstract
Related Media
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Biberman, Yelena. 2009. "." http://russiaprofile.org/international/a1248803550/print_edition

Pakistan's religious television programs have drawn significant attention in both academic and policy circles. However, there has been surprisingly little systematic analysis of their content and influence. This article shows that, although the televangelists featured on the Pakistani television channels present some of the most conservative views regarding the role of women and religious minorities in society and the role of Islam in governance, Pakistani television is an arena of contestation. The impact of the lively debates between televangelists on young viewers-over whom the ideological battles are being waged-is mixed. Findings from an original survey of Pakistani students and political activists suggest that young people in Pakistan watch religious shows only occasionally. Those that do, however, take them seriously. What leads young people to consume religion on television is a sense of social responsibility: that they are doing it not just for themselves, but also-and perhaps more importantly-for others, be it their families or communities. (Asian Aff/GIGA)