A Dimension Reduction Method Application to a Political Science Question: Using Exploratory Factor Analysis to Generate the Dimensionality of Political Ideology in the Arab World

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (01) ◽  
pp. 2040002
Author(s):  
Malek Abduljaber
Keyword(s):  
Dimension Reduction ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Stable Solution ◽  
World Values Survey ◽  
Arab Politics ◽  
Science Question ◽  
Islam And Secularism ◽  
Mass Level

This paper utilises data dimension reduction to settle a heavily debated question concerning the dimensionality of political ideology in the Arab World. It relies on recent data available through the World Values Survey to generate a stable solution for the number of important and exciting dimensions defining ordinary citizens’ political attitude structures. The findings of the analysis suggest that in four Arab states, political ideology is multi-dimensional on the mass level. This negates the widespread assumption made about Arab politics where Islam and secularism constitute the only dimension organising voters’ attitudes and behaviours. This is important because many analyses of Middle Eastern politics start with this assumption without questioning its validity. Further, models of political ideology are to be modified when transferred to studying Middle Eastern political attitudes. The single-dimension hypothesis applicable in some Western settings is not attainable in the Arab World.

scholarly journals Watching the war against Iraq through pan-Arab satellite TV

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed El-Bendary
Keyword(s):  
Arab World ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Al Jazeera ◽  
The West ◽  
Satellite Television ◽  
The North ◽  
Satellite Channels ◽  
Flow Of Information

It was the first Gulf War in 1991 which led to the satellite television explosion in the Arab world. Arabs then knew about Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait through CNN. Today, Arab satellite channels reach almost every Arab capital and many Middle Eastern and African nations — from Mauritania on the Atlantic coast to Iran in the east, from Syria in the north to Djibouti in the south. This battle for the airwaves and boom in satellite channels in the Arab world has become both a tool for integration and dispersion. It is raising a glimpse of hope that the flow of information will no longer be pouring from the West to the East, but from the East to the West. Questions, however, remain about the credibility of news coverage by Arabic networks like the maverick Qatar-based al-Jazeera and whether Arab journalists adhere to journalistic norms upheld in the West.

scholarly journals Globalization and the Transformation of Political Attitude Structures at the Party Level in the Arab World: Insights from the Cases of Egypt and Jordan

Societies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malek Abduljaber ◽  
Ilker Kalin
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
New Family ◽  
Independence Era ◽  
Political Globalization ◽  
Political Economic

In this paper, the outline, design, and findings of an ongoing research project on the effects of globalization on the transformation of political ideology in the Arab world at the political party level are presented. It is argued that globalization has altered the dimensionality, type, and structuration of political ideology in the Arab world. The structure of preferences among political actors in the region shifted from a unidimensional one in the post-independence era to become multidimensional in the contemporary period, defined by high rates of economic, cultural, and political globalization. Arab political parties no longer organize their platforms based on the Islamic–liberal, Islamist–secular, or cultural divides. An economic values-based dimension has emerged to divide party programs, adding a second, distinct and statistically independent dimension to the already existing classic church versus state cleavage. Further, a new family of Islamist parties has emerged due to the economic, cultural, and political gains from globalization. This project argues that globalization causes political ideological shifts in attitudes through formulating new groups, schedules of preferences, and political/economic opportunities. This research contributes to the ongoing debate on the influence of globalization and any other social transformation process on changing political actors’ preferences across time and space.

Post-Islamism in Distress? A Critical Evaluation of the Theory in Islamist-Dominated Egypt (11 February 2011-3 July 2013)

2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-118
Author(s):  
Robbert A.F.L. Woltering
Keyword(s):  
Arab World ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
New Horizons ◽  
Middle Eastern Studies ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
Tunisian Revolution

The developments in the Arab world since the outbreak of the Tunisian revolution not only open up new horizons for Arab citizens, they also allow for scholars of Middle Eastern studies to test certain theories in ways heretofore impossible. One such theory is that of post-Islamism. This paper discusses a number of recent publications by former members of the Muslim Brotherhood, in light of recent developments in and analysis of Egypt’s Islamist politics, with the aim of determining whether it is possible (and useful) to speak of a ‘post-Islamist condition’ in the post-Mubarak period wherein the Muslim Brotherhood rose to power. 


Survey Research in the Arab World

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay J. Benstead
Keyword(s):  
Data Quality ◽  
Survey Research ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
World Values Survey ◽  
Methodological Research ◽  
Survey Error ◽  
The Arab Spring

Since the first surveys were conducted there in the late 1980s, survey research has expanded rapidly in the Arab world. Almost every country in the region is now included in the Arab Barometer, Afrobarometer, or World Values Survey. Moreover, the Arab spring marked a watershed, with the inclusion of Tunisia and Libya and addition of many topics, such as voting behavior, that were previously considered too sensitive. As a result, political scientists have dozens of largely untapped data sets to answer theoretical and policy questions. To make progress toward measuring and reducing total survey error, discussion is needed about quality issues, such as high rates of missingness and sampling challenges. Ongoing attention to ethics is also critical. This chapter discusses these developments and frames a substantive and methodological research agenda for improving data quality and survey practice in the Arab world.

Sindbad's Ocean: Reframing the Market in the Middle East

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 754-757
Author(s):  
Johan Mathew
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Gulliver's Travels ◽  
The World ◽  
Cultural Markers ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Indian Ocean World

There are few figures as universally beloved and yet recognizably “Middle Eastern” as Sindbad. The text of Sindbad's seven voyages travel easily across continents and languages and many of the tales blur imperceptibly into those of Homer'sThe Odysseyand Swift'sGulliver's Travels. Yet this swashbuckling adventurer is also firmly situated in the world of Abbasid Iraqandthe Indian Ocean world. Sindbad is clearly identified as a good Muslim and respected Baghdadi merchant, and while fantastical, there are recognizable geographic and cultural markers that locate his voyages within the Indian Ocean world. This iconic character of Arab popular culture pushes us to contemplate how easily the Arab world flows into that of the Indian Ocean.

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