The Pulse of the Arab Street: Understanding the Political Economy of the Arab Uprisings Using Novel Public Opinion Data

This project seeks to advance research on the political economy of Arab societies and their transformations in the years leading up to 2011. In a novel way, the project uses nationally-representative survey data to examine developments and transformations on the “Arab street” through the eyes and voices of the most relevant, yet most under-researched, actors – that is, ordinary Arab citizens. A team of researchers, with a deep understanding of the region and its specificities, produced 12 papers filling an existing gap in rigorous, quantitative, evidence-based research on the political economy of contemporary Arab societies.