Public Opinion in the Middle East ─ Survey Research and the Political Orientations of Ordinary Citizens

The political orientations of ordinary citizens in the Arab and Muslim Middle East have engaged Mark Tessler since the late 1960s. The 13 research reports collected in this volume examine the nature and determinants of citizen attitudes toward governance and democracy, the political role of Islam, gender equality, and international conflict. Addressing issues of doing survey research in the Middle East, particularly in areas of conflict and under repressive political conditions, these articles trace the development of key concerns and methodological questions in the study of politics and society in this region.

Mark Tessler is Samuel J. Eldersveld Collegiate Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan, where he also serves as Vice Provost for International Affairs. He is author of A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (IUP, 2009) and editor (with Jodi Nachtwey and Anne Banda) of Area Studies and Social Science: Strategies for Understanding Middle East Politics (IUP, 1999).