Political life in Muslim countries is surprisingly wired. In 2000, fewer than 50 political parties from Muslim countries had Web sites. By 2007, there were more than 200 parties online, the majority of them secular. The expansion of politics online in the Muslim world is out-pacing that of the rest of the developing world.Also in 2000, 40 percent of the world’s political parties were online, 28 percent of parties in developing countries were online, but only 16 percent of parties in Muslim countries were online. Political parties in the Muslim world have quickly caught up, and today 38 percent of the political parties in Muslim and other developing countries are online. These figures likely reflect overall growth of political content in blogs, chat groups and listservs.

World Political Parties Online, 2000-2007

Interestingly, the number of wired political parties dropped over time. This is likely because the country coverage improved over time. In addition, researchers had to make a strategic choice about how to code joke political parties that have no real party organization, but do have a web presence. We decided to only cover major and minor parties that field candidates for election, and to exclude joke parties.

In countries where political parties are illegal, the research team also had to make strategic decisions on which websites to code. In such countries organized political groups are often called social movements or associations, and these kinds of groups were included in the search.

World Information Access researchers, who review trends in the global digital divide, studied data on political party Web sites from 2000 ((Data generously shared by Dr. Pippa Norris)) , 2005 ((Data collected by WIA researchers December 2005)) and 2007 ((Data collected by WIA researchers May 2007)). They covered 212 countries and thousands of political parties—3,217 parties in 2007 alone.

Broken down by ideological affiliation, the vast majority of organized political parties in Muslim countries are secular, and there is significant ideological diversity. While 11 percent of the political parties were classified as Islamic fundamentalist, 60 percent either either conservative, liberal or socialist. ((Most parties were cataloged based on information available on their website or in major news media coverage about the political parties. Additional sources were consulted where needed, including Charles Kurzman, Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook (Oxford University Press, 1998).))

GRAPHIC: Political Parties in the Muslim World, By Party Type

This boom in online political life in Muslim countries is surprising given the digital divide between rich and poor countries. Wealthier ones have more high-speed broadband service, which means citizens get more information more quickly. In contrast, many citizens in poorer countries continue using dial-up services, which are slower but less expensive.