Tarek Masoud, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University:
Al Stepan was our leading theorist of how to get and keep democracy around the world. His work on the Middle East revealed great subtlety and depth of understanding, made all the more remarkable by the fact that his primary region of study was Latin America. This carefully curated volume demonstrates the influence that Stepan’s thinking has had (and will have) on generations of Middle East scholars.

Nader Hashemi, the University of Denver:
In the age of ISIS and growing anti-Muslim bigotry embodied in the rise of Donald Trump, the claim that Islam and Muslim societies are essentially and enduringly antidemocratic 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.