Islamophobia undermines democracy by manufacturing fear and manufactured consent.

Evidence

“Islamophobia affects democracy in at least three ways,” said Dalia Mogahed, co-author of the book Who Speaks for Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think. “Firstly, the anti-Sharia legislation movement is really part of a larger problem, as the same lawmakers that are targeting Muslims are targeting other minorities as well. Secondly, Islamophobia hurts our democracy in that it scares people,” she continued. “Fear makes people more accepting of authoritarianism, conformity, and prejudice. And thirdly, it manipulates people, and manipulates the public to consent to policies that they would otherwise not agree.” — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 635

Categorization

• XREF: The fear-to-authoritarianism mechanism bridges to the global ‘new world order’ thesis and to Herman-Chomsky manufactured consent. — connects to: Western claims that Islam blocks democracy mask Islamophobic motives — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 299; Islamophobia materially harms real lives regardless of how temporary the trend is.; Islamophobic campaign rhetoric is traded for votes and converted into policy — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 57 (+12 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 635

Broader Connections

• Islamophobia has material and political causes beyond ignorance or xenophobia #expands (0.65) — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 706
• Islamophobia is transmitted through state-polity dialogue via law and rhetoric #expands (0.65) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 83
• Islamophobia is political rather than religious and must be fought politically #expands (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 576
• Islamophobia is systemic and institutionalized, not merely individual prejudice #corroborates (0.60) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 641
• Structural Islamophobia operates through laws and policies that presume Muslims threaten national security #expands (0.55) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 123
• Islamophobia denotes fear, hatred, and hostility toward Muslims and Islam. #expands (0.50) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 31