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Reposted by Ahmed Ezzeldin Mohamed

Ahmed Ezzeldin Mohamed @a-ezz-mohamed.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

🚨New Publication🚨 I'm excited to share that my #paper, "Religious Policy Cycles: How Does Religion Regulate Distributive Politics in Muslim Societies?" is now accepted at the Journal of Politics! papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

papers.ssrn.com

Religious Policy Cycles: How Does Religion Regulate Distributive Politics in Muslim Societies?

In many Muslim autocracies, governments expand their distributive policies and enhance service-delivery in the religious season of Ramadan. What is the politica

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Ahmed Ezzeldin Mohamed @a-ezz-mohamed.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Special thanks to my advisers and the awesome scholars who contributed their thoughts and suggestions to this work over the course of its development.

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Ahmed Ezzeldin Mohamed @a-ezz-mohamed.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

5) Political actors might employ different targeting strategies in the same context; rewarding different constituents (supporters vs opponents) at different points in time in response to temporal shifts in threats from formal and informal channels.

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Ahmed Ezzeldin Mohamed @a-ezz-mohamed.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

(4) Distributive politics might follow the electoral calendar. Yet, in societies where tradition and norms matter, religious calendars might be equally important in regulating government strategies and citizen's reactions.

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Ahmed Ezzeldin Mohamed @a-ezz-mohamed.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

(3) Government distribution is not only about serving, but could also be about "showing". Distributive politics can be "performative", and this will shape the timing of distribution and actual targeting strategies.

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Ahmed Ezzeldin Mohamed @a-ezz-mohamed.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

(2) In contrast to evidence from Western contexts, religious distribution might not necessarily reduce government incentives for distribution. Pressures on the government to abide by popular religious norms can turn religious and governmental distribution into complements.

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Ahmed Ezzeldin Mohamed @a-ezz-mohamed.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

(1) Informal institutions (e.g., religion), under certain conditions, might increase the alignment between citizens' demands and policy-making in less democratic settings and compensate -at least partially- for the failures of formal institutions to keep governments in check.

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Ahmed Ezzeldin Mohamed @a-ezz-mohamed.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

But what does this study tell us beyond its specifics?

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Ahmed Ezzeldin Mohamed @a-ezz-mohamed.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

I argue that the religious environment (time-variant) creates reputational pressures and collective action threats during Ramadan, boosting government incentives for distribution and shaping targeting strategies. Religious seasons translate into religious policy cycles.

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Ahmed Ezzeldin Mohamed @a-ezz-mohamed.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

I take the distributive politics of Ramadan as a gateway to understand the alternative mechanisms that regulate citizen-government relationships in religious societies; how can political accountability and policy responsiveness be attained without democracy or elections?

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Ahmed Ezzeldin Mohamed @a-ezz-mohamed.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

The paper documents an empirical regularity in Muslim societies; governments expand their distributive interventions during the religious season of Ramadan; Religious calendars regulate who gets what and when. Why? What is the political rationale behind such policies?

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Ahmed Ezzeldin Mohamed @a-ezz-mohamed.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

papers.ssrn.com

Religious Policy Cycles: How Does Religion Regulate Distributive Politics in Muslim Societies?

In many Muslim autocracies, governments expand their distributive policies and enhance service-delivery in the religious season of Ramadan. What is the politica

121

Reposted by Ahmed Ezzeldin Mohamed

Cambridge University Press Political Science & IR @cambup-polsci.cambridge.org · 22/10/2025

#FirstView from @pspolisci.bsky.social - From Bookworm to Browser: The Decline of Books in Political Science Scholarship - cup.org/3WfnBiX - Alixandra B. Yanus & Phillip J. Ardoin

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Reposted by Ahmed Ezzeldin Mohamed

Jeff Ziegler @jeffreymziegler.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

Submit, submit! 🚨 Pleasant reminder to all, the 5th European PolMeth meeting will be 14-15 May 2026 at Trinity College Dublin 🇮🇪 Submissions close Nov. 15 ⚠️ You can find out more about the conference, including the submission form, here: polmeth.eu If you have any questions, please contact me 😀

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