The Limits of Tolerance: Muslims in America and the Middle East

The Limits of Tolerance: Muslims in America and the Middle East 

Youssef Chouhoud

Associate Professor of Political Science

Reiff Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution, Christopher Newport University

 

The debate over the compatibility of Islam and Democracy has a long lineage. In recent years, however, it has garnered renewed interest due to expanding Muslim populations in established Western democracies and heightening democratic ambitions in Muslim-majority societies. Skeptics of Muslims’ democratic bona fides often associate the religion of Islam or its adherents with intolerance while apologists counter these claims with historical and scriptural evidence to the contrary. Dr. Youssef Chouhoud takes a more contextual approach in this lecture, asking when are Muslims intolerant. He presents empirical evidence from recent surveys of American Muslims and Tunisians demonstrating, first, the added psychological barriers minorities in America face when expressing tolerant attitudes and, second, the optimistic (if precarious and asymmetric) state of political tolerance in North Africa's sole democracy.

 

Dr. Youssef Chouhoud is an Assistant Professor of Political Science affiliated with the Reiff Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at Christopher Newport University. His research elaborates the determinants of support for core democratic norms by examining understudied groups and contexts. Dr. Chouhoud’s current project on political tolerance draws on original surveys, experimental data, and elite interviews in North Africa and the United States. 

 

Prior to joining CNU, Dr. Chouhoud was a Provost’s Fellow at the University of Southern California, where he received his Ph.D. As a President’s Scholar, he earned his M.A. in Political Science at Lehigh University, where he also received his B.A. in History. 

 

Co-sponsor: Department of Political Science