Despite a wealth of studies examining Muslim religiosity and democracy, uncertainty regarding Islam and attitudes toward democracy remains. Although the claims concerning the incompatibility of Islam and democracy are generally discarded, public opinion scholarship has yet to build much further from this important first step or incorporate a strong theoretical framework for analysis beyond this basic foundation. This paper seeks…
Kathrin Thomas
Police Legitimacy and Homicide: A Macro-Comparative Analysis
“This study tests the claim that police legitimacy affects the prevalence of homicide. Using a cross-national time-series dataset of 100 countries, I conduct a statistical analysis of the association between the extent to which the public perceives the police as legitimate and the homicide rate. The analysis suggests that police legitimacy has a substantial, negative association with homicide rates, consistent…
Review: Le dinar algérien, passé et présent: aspects de la politique monétaire et financière de l’Algérie
“Bader Eddine Nouioua, who served as governor of the Central Bank of Algeria from 1985 to 1989, has written a primer to explain Algerian money and banking to the public. And there is much to explain, as banking and finance are often blamed as key impediments to Algerian development. The banking system was singled out for early reform in 1986,…
State-led security responses and violent extremism: a comparative analysis of Libya, Egypt and Tunisia
“This article investigates the link between the deterioration of state-society relations and the increase in state-sponsored violence in the MENA region in the aftermath of the Arab Uprisings. It does so to address the question of whether state-led security responses are directly related to the perceived proliferation of violent extremism networks. Relying on the comparative analysis of Libya, Egypt and…
Muslim Attitudes Towards the European Union
“How do Muslim citizens across the globe perceive the European Union? And what factors influence their EU attitudes? This book offers the first systematic theoretical and empirical analysis of Muslim citizens’ EU attitudes in and outside the European Union. Using the best empirical data available, the book demonstrates that Muslim citizens’ attitudes are not shaped by their denomination and religious…
The Multidimensional Impact of Islamic Religiosity on Ethno-religious Social Tolerance in the Middle East and North Africa
“Ethno-religious tolerance is crucial for establishing sustainable democracy, which is scarce in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). This study provides an empirically grounded and nuanced critique of Orientalist studies simply pointing at Islam. It presents a systematic analysis of the impact of religious belonging, belief, and behavior on social tolerance in the MENA, based on 32 uniquely synchronized…
Saudi Arabia plans for its economic future: Vision 2030, the National Transformation Plan and Saudi fiscal reform
“In response to a rapid decline in world oil prices, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman introduced a new economic blueprint called Saudi Vision 2030 and the accompanying National Transformation Plan that would enable the Kingdom to diversify its heavily oil-dependent revenue base, reduce its growing budget deficits, balance its budgets, and promote long-term economic growth. This article analyses…
Self-expression values, loyalty generation, and support for authoritarianism: evidence from the Arab world
“This study examines the micro foundations of political support in Arab polities. Most Arab states rank highly in aggregate human development or economic wealth, but they lag behind in democracy defying the predictions of modernization theory. Modernization and human development perspective implies that increased resources and self-expression values will induce critical political outlooks toward the regime. This study questions the…
Arab spring protests and women’s labor market outcomes: Evidence from the Egyptian revolution
“We analyze the effects of the 2011 Egyptian protests on the relative labor market conditions of women using panel data from the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey (ELMPS). Using unique information from the Statistical Database of the Egyptian Revolution, we geocode each “martyr”, i.e. demonstrators who died during the protests, based on the location of the political incident. We construct…
The Tunisian Revolution as a Catalyst to the Arab Spring: A Case Study of Revolution in North Africa and the Middle East
“This thesis research project is an attempt to understand the nature, sources, dynamics, and contradictions of the Tunisian Revolution of 2010-11. Contained within the thesis are seven chapters, each outlining political, economic, cultural, and social phenomena that precipitated the Revolution, as well as the dynamics following the Revolution. Chapter 1 provides a discussion of various competing theoretical perspectives on social…
Syrian Refugees in Jordan and Lebanon: Under the Shadow of Palestinian Refugees
“I examine whether a special geographical location (environments around Palestinian refugee camps) is associated with policy gaps in Jordan and Lebanon by analyzing the perceptions of Syrians and host societies. Using the Arab Barometer 2016 data, I find that environments around the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon have become places where government policies cannot reach, leading to geographical discrepancies in…
Effects of Modernization and Globalization on Values Change in the Arab World
“This paper argues that social transformation processes generate shifts in public opinion among the public. More specifically, increasing rates of modernization and globalization in the Arab world over the past half century have led to a moving away from religion, tradition, and ethnocentrism to embracing more secular, liberal, and egalitarian values. Ordinary citizens in today’s Arab world are more tolerant…
The Inconvenient Facts Hindering a New Approach to Refugee Assistance Program — the Labor Potential of Syrian Refugees in Jordan
“Due to the ongoing conflict, most Syrian refugees have fled to countries that neighbor Syria and the governments of these developing countries are now the principal entities for implementing Syrian refugee policies. These policies accommodate refugees in camps or provide refugees with residency in urban areas, but impose severe restrictions on their employment. Betts and Collier, professors at the University…
The Arab Spring Five Years Later Volume One : Toward Greater Inclusiveness
“Since the series of uprisings of the Arab Spring began, the debate in Arab countries has focused almost exclusively on politics and questions of national identity. However, it is economic issues that are driving the agenda, and real economic grievances must be addressed in order for the many transitions to succeed. Hafez Ghanem gives a thorough assessment of the Arab…