Mark Tessler

Attitudes in the Arab World

Abstract:The Arab Barometer finds widespread support for democracy in Arab world. Definitions of democracy vary considerably, however, with some citizens emphasizing government accountability and political freedoms and while others stress instrumental considerations, including effectiveness in meeting economic needs. The Arab Barometer also finds that support for pluralism, tolerance and other democratic values are present to the same degree among those who favor secular democracy and those who favor a political system that is both democratic and Islamic. Finally, in contrast to some popular misconceptions, personal religiosity does not account for variance in support for democracy, in a preference for secular rather than Islamic democracy, or in attitudes toward authoritarian political formulae.

What Leads Some Ordinary Arab Men and Women to Approve of Terrorist Acts Against the United States

Findings from representative national surveys in Algeria and Jordan show that neither religious orientations, judgments about Western culture, nor economic circumstances account for variance in approval of terrorist acts against U.S. targets. Alternatively, in both countries, approval of terrorism against the United States is disproportionately likely among men and women with negative judgments about their own government and about U.S. foreign policy. Taken together, these findings suggest that approval of terrorism is fostered by negative attitudes toward actors considered responsible for the political and economic status quo. Given that Algeria and Jordan have had different experiences with respect to terrorism and also differ in demographic, political, and economic structure, identical findings from these dissimilar countries suggest that the observed relationships are not country specific and may apply more generally.

Gauging Arab Support for Democracy

The Arab world stands out as a region for its limited progress toward democracy. At the same time, eight national surveys in six Arab countries between 2000 and 2004 show that 90 percent or more of those interviewed would like to see a democratic political system in their country. This does not necessarily imply support for secular democracy, however. Roughly half of the respondents who support democracy also believe that Islam should play an important role in political affairs. It remains to be seen whether popular support for democracy, coupled with recent, albeit limited political openings in some Arab countries, will lead to sustained democratic transitions.

Public Opinion and Democratic Legitimacy

This paper examines on a global scale how important it is for young democracies to deliver economic welfare to win the hearts of their citizens. A decoupling of popular support for democratic form of government from economic performance is believed to be conducive to the consolidation of young democracies. We found an encouraging global pattern that clearly shows evaluations of economic condition are relatively unimportant in explaining level of popular support for democracy. However, high-income East Asian countries register a glaring exception to this global generalization, suggesting that their distinctive trajectory of regime transition has imposed on democratic regimes an additional burden of sustaining a record of miraculous economic growth of the past.

Arab and Muslim Political Attitudes: Stereotypes and Evidence from Survey Research

Although the administration of President George W. Bush insists that the U.S. War on Terrorism is not a war on Islam, too many Americans seem to view it that way. A national poll taken by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research following the attack of September 11, 2001, found that 54 percent expressed the view that the attack was motivated by a conflict between Christianity and Islam. Even more disturbing are the statements of some religious figures in the U.S. For example, Rev. Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham and a well-known evangelist in his own right, said of Islam, “I believe it’s a very evil and wicked religion.” This and a sampling of other offensive references to Islam by prominent American conservatives are summarized by Nicholas Kristof in an important New York Times article published this summer.1 Mr. Kristof concludes that if we expect Muslim leaders to confront the hate-mongers in their societies, we must confront those here in the U.S. Yet another illustration is the reaction of some conservatives to a plan by the University of North Carolina to assign a book on Islam to incoming freshmen. The Family Policy Network, a conservative Christian organization, filed suit against the university. Fox News Network talk-show host Bill O’Reilly denounced the teaching of “our enemy’s religion” and compared the assignment to teaching Mein Kampf in 1941.2 Finally, there is the well-known “Clash of Civilizations” thesis, in which Professor Samuel Huntington of Harvard argues that cultural and religious differences are a major cause of international conflict in the post–Cold War era and asserts that Islam in particular encourages Muslim aggressiveness toward non-Muslim peoples. According to Huntington, “Some Westerners have argued that the West does not have problems with Islam but only with violent Islamic extremists…But evidence to …

Islam and attitudes toward international conflict: Evidence from survey research in the Arab world

This article examines the impact of religious orientation on attitudes toward the Arab-Israeli conflict using survey data from five Arab countries: Egypt, Kuwait, Palestine, Jordan, and Lebanon. Consistent with past research that has demonstrated the structural complexity of religious orientations, the present analysis reveals an empirical distinction between personal and political dimensions of religion in all cases where data are available. The relationship between each dimension and attitudes toward the Arab-Israeli conflict is different, with the same pattern of relationships observed cross nationally. Specifically, support for political Islam is associated with unfavorable attitudes toward a peaceful resolution of the conflict, and personal religiosity and piety are unrelated to attitudes toward the conflict. The consistency of the variable relationships found in the Arab world, in comparison with findings from research based on Western countries, suggests that relationships between religious orientations and political attitudes may be more stable in regions where secularism is less pronounced.

Further Tests of the Women and Peace Hypothesis: Evidence from Cross-National Survey Research in the Middle East

This research report replicates, extends, and adds a longitudinal dimension to a recently published analysis focusing on the relationship between sex and attitudes toward international conflict, and specifically on the hypothesis that women are more peace-oriented than men. The study being replicated utilized public opinion data from Israel, Egypt, Palestine, and Kuwait. The present report extends the analysis, employing one additional data set from Israel, two additional data sets from Palestine, and new data sets from Jordan and Lebanon. In contrast to findings from studies conducted in the United States and Europe, none of the nine Middle Eastern data sets yields a statistically significant relationship between sex and attitudes toward international conflict. The article considers possible reasons for the difference between findings from the Middle East and those based on research in the West. Emphasizing the notion of salience, it hypothesizes that characteristics of the conflict about which attitudes are held may be more important than country or regional attributes in determining the applicability of the women and peace hypothesis.

Political culture in Turkey: Connections among attitudes toward democracy, the military and Islam

Against the background of Turkeys continuing but unconsolidated democratic transition, this article examines the nature and determinants of attitudes toward democracy held by ordinary Turkish citizens. Using data from the World Values Survey conducted in Turkey in 1997, it seeks to contribute to a growing body of literature concerned with the relationship between political culture and democratization. Although this relationship has not been fully explicated, the authors share the view of those scholars who believe that the existence of democratic attitudes and values among a countrys population is no less important than are democratic institutions and procedures for advancing and eventually consolidating a democratic transition. Accordingly, the study seeks to shed light on the following interrelated questions: To what extent does the Turkish population hold attitudes supportive of democracy? What are the most important determinants of popular support for democracy? What factors account for any observed variance in relevant political attitudes? What is the relationship between attitudes toward the military and attitudes toward democracy and governance? What is the relationship between personal religious attachments and attitudes toward democracy and governance?

New Findings on Arabs and Democracy

Examined with data from the first and second wave of Arab Barometer surveys are support for democracy, understandings of democracy, desires for reform, values associated with a democratic political culture, views about the political role of Islam, and the relationship between support for political Islam and the embrace of democratic values. Broad continuing trends include strong support for democracy, understandings of democracy that emphasize economic considerations, and a division of opinion about Islam’s political role. Findings from surveys in Egypt and Tunisia in 2011 are discussed in greater detail in relation to post–Arab Spring developments in the two countries.

Area Studies and Social Science: Strategies for Understanding Middle East Politics

Table of Contents: Acknowledgments Introduction: The Area Studies Controversy, Mark Tessler, Jodi Nachtwey, Anne Banda 1. Politics in the Middle East: Opportunities and Limits in the Quest for Theory, Lisa Anderson 2. State-Society Relations: Algeria as a Case Study, John P. Entelis 3. Associational Life: Civil Society in Authoritarian Political Systems, Augustus Richard Norton 4. Explaining Womens Support for Political Islam: Contributions from Feminist Theory, Jodi Nachtwey and Mark Tessler 5. Influencing Public Policy: Banking and the Political Economy of Collective Action, Clement Henry 6. Toward a Theory of International Labor Migration: Evidence from Egypt, Magda Kandil 7. Religion and International Conflict: An Individual-Level Analysis, Mark Tessler and Jodi Nachtwey 8. The Arab-Israeli Conflict: Lessons about Diplomatic Initiatives and Negotiations, Laura Zittrain Eisenberg 9. Middle Eastern Alliances: From Neorealism to Political Economy, Laurie Brand 10. International Relations Theory: Contributions from Research in the Middle East, Baghat Korany Contributors Index