Challenging Muslim democratic states: Islamic social movement and illiberal democracy in Malaysia and Indonesia

Much work has been done in explain Indonesia and Malaysia’s challenges towards democratization, as both countries have sought. Despite that, those mostly capture the top-down-driven challenges and the role of executive or elected leaders. Little is understood about how majoritarian societal groups constrain democratic consolidation, rooted in inherent majoritarian privileges. In this sense, juxtaposing the cases of the Anti-ICERD (International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination) in Malaysia and Defending Islam Action (Aksi Bela Islam, ABI) in Indonesia is theoretically insightful for understanding the embedded challenges of democratization in Muslim democratic countries. Drawing on the qualitative comparative method and social movements theory, this article found that, despite Malaysia and Indonesia having different political and institutional contexts, religious majoritarianism—in a form of Islamic social movement—achieved its illiberal objectives through democratic frameworks. Why and to what extent do they achieve their goals and shape the democratic mould? It argued that the success of Anti-ICERD and ABI was enabled by the strong narrative framing on the existential threat to their religion, combined with weak state capacity due to the unconsolidated presidential power in Indonesia (2016) and the fragility of the newly established government coalition in Malaysia (2018).