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In early 2011, widespread protests ousted dictatorial regimes in both Tunisia and Egypt. Within a few years, Tunisia successfully held parliamentary and presidential elections and witnessed a peaceful transition of power, while the Egyptian military went on to seize power and institute authoritarian control. What explains the success and failure of transitions to democracy in these two countries, and how might they speak to democratic transition attempts in other Muslim-majority countries?

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In the age of ISIS and rising anti-Muslim bigotry (embodied in the rise of Donald Trump), the claim that the Islam and Muslim societies are essentially and enduringly anti-democratic has again become mainstream. This book forcefully and convincingly repudiates this proposition. Focusing on the fascinating case of Tunisia and drawing up his vast erudition on the study of democracy, Alfred Stepan makes an important and unique contribution in understanding the relationship between religion and democracy in Muslim societies. Nader Hashemi, the University of Denver

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Alfred Stepan (1936-2017) was the Wallace Sayre Professor Emeritus of Government and founding director of the Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration, and Religion at Columbia University. His many books include Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe (with Juan J. Linz, 1996), Arguing Comparative Politics (2001), and Boundaries of Toleration (Columbia, 2014, with Charles Taylor).

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