In terms of a cross-country-comparison, the cases of Pakistan and Israel are widely seen as ideological states that offer a complex synthesis of nation, religion and politics. One principle leading these systems is the maintenance of the status quo that promotes an exclusive and ethnonational interpretation of the  religion's role in the state. However, the Islamic welfare state vis-à-vis the Jewish Democracy are challenged by parallel identity concepts and legal as well as religious discourses opposing these hegemonic setups. In the framework of cooperation and conflict models traditional religious groups and their political parties are therefore essential for the analysis of political cultures, institutions and social cleavages.

Email: malte.gaier@uni-erfurt.de