Abstract

Some of the most pressing and contested questions in the political life of Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and North Africa revolve around the proper place of Islamic institutions and authorities in governance and political affairs. Drawing on data from 42 nationally representative political attitude surveys carried out in fifteen countries in the MENA region between 1988 and 2011, representing the views of more than 65,000 men and women, Mark Tessler will report on the investigation presented in his new book of the reasons that some individuals support a central role for Islam in government while others favor a separation of religion and politics.  The study formulates and tests hypotheses about the views held by ordinary citizens, offering insights into both individual-level and country-level factors that shape attitudes towardpolitical Islam.  Tessler’s study also investigates the degree to which those who disagree about the place that Islam should occupy in political affairs have differing views about democracy, gender relations, and other important political, social and cultural issues.  This body of research draws upon surveys conducted by the Arab Barometer Survey Project, which Tessler co-directs, and also his newly constructed “Carnegie Middle East Governance and Islam Dataset.”  These data have been placed in the public domain for use by other researchers.