CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2024
| Author | Mehrez, Ameni |
|---|---|
| Title | A Theory of Value-Based Cleavages Across-Religions: Values, Ideology, and Behavior |
| Summary | Why are values associated with left-wing (liberal) political ideology in some contexts while being associated with right-wing (conservative) political ideology in others? In this dissertation, I examine the link between values and political ideology and voting across religions with a focus on the Arab-Muslim world. I demonstrate that this link is not solely shaped by religious factors but also political ones. Using a variety of datasets (cross-national surveys, an original face-to-face survey, and political speeches) and methods (statistical analysis, text analysis, and thematic analysis), I show that the link between values and political ideology vary across religions. Through the cross-religious analysis, I demonstrate that, in Muslim societies, people who endorse justice tend to align with right-wing political ideology whereas in Christian societies, they are more inclined towards leftist views. I also show that this link is conditioned by the level of political oppression exercised against opposition parties. In Arab-Muslim countries, where Islamist parties are denied access to politics, the link between endorsing justice and being to the right is stronger. Through an original survey conducted in Tunisia in 2019, I provide a fine-grained analysis of values and show that people who endorse justice are more likely to vote for right-wing Islamist parties whereas those who endorse authority and nationalism are more likely to vote for leftist and secularist parties. Finally, through quantitative and qualitative text analysis of politicians’ speeches from Tunisia, I show that the same patterns also hold in the political elite. |
| Supervisor | Littvay, Levente |
| Department | Political Science PhD |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2024/mehrez_ameni.pdf |
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