Grewal
Biographic Data
| ID | 68497 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Grewal |
| FAMILY NAME | Grewal |
| SIGNATURE | GREWAL |
| AFFILIATIONS | William & Mary |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4563-5301 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 198 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
The Islamist Advantage: The Religious Infrastructure of Electoral Victory
Why do Islamists regularly win elections in the Middle East? Why, for instance, did Ennahda perform well in every election in Tunisia’s democratic era (2011–2021)? I argue that regular interactions in mosques allow Islamists to build deeper ties and greater trust with their supporters than secular parties can. Post-election, this trust also allows Islamists to better sell their performance and justify their compromises, contributing to re-electio…
Discrimination, Inclusion, and Anti‐System Attitudes among Muslims in Germany
Muslims in Europe and North America face high rates of discrimination and hostility. Less clear are the consequences of this prejudice on Muslims’ political attitudes. Leveraging a survey of 1,330 Muslims in Germany, we show that Muslims who have personally experienced discrimination exhibit higher anti‐system tendencies: more supportive of violence, more supportive of Islamism, and less supportive of democracy and secularism. We also find that t…
Regime Support and Gender Quotas in Autocracies
Gender quotas are increasingly being adopted by autocrats in part to legitimize their rule. Yet, even in autocracies, these quotas increase women's political representation. It thus stands to reason that public support for gender quotas in autocracies might be shaped by this trade-off between advancing women's rights and granting the regime legitimacy. All else equal, regime opponents should be less supportive of gender quotas in autocracies, war…
Military Repression and Restraint in Algeria
The Algerian military's response to the 2019-2020 Hirak protests was relatively peaceful. In contrast to its violent repression of protests in 1988, and subsequent coup and civil war in the 1990s, the military showed considerable restraint toward the Hirak. Leveraging a survey of 2,235 self-reported military personnel, I show that the military's restraint emanated from protesters' use of nonviolence and fraternization, as well as from a recogniti…
Can Religious Reinterpretations Bridge the Secular-Religious Divide? Experimental Evidence from Tunisia
Domestic politics around the globe have become increasingly polarized along secular-religious lines. Recent literature suggests that one way to ease secular-religious tension and gridlock is for religious leaders to offer progressive reinterpretations of religious texts, that might convince religious conservatives to compromise from their seemingly-fixed policy positions. But can everyday citizens deploy religious reinterpretations themselves? We…
Preaching Politics: How Politicization Undermines Religious Authority in the Middle East
A growing body of research demonstrates that political involvement by Christian religious leaders can undermine the religion's social influence. Do these negative consequences of politicization also extend to Islam? Contrary to scholarly and popular accounts that describe Islam as inherently political, we argue that Muslim religious leaders will weaken their religious authority when they engage with politics. We test this argument with a conjoint…
Ghosts of the Black Decade: How legacies of violence shaped Algeria's Hirak protests
Episodes of mass political violence, such as genocide and civil war, have been thought to both encourage and discourage future political mobilization. We square these competing hypotheses by disaggregating between protest onset and resilience. We argue that exposure to mass violence decades ago should on average decrease protest onset, by heightening fears of repression and retribution. However, conditional on protesting, prior exposure to violen…
Twice the Citizen: How Military Attitudes of Superiority Undermine Civilian Control in the United States
Civilian control of the military is central to the making of security policy, ensuring that civilian officials and the elected leaders that appoint them oversee and decide military affairs. This paper exposes a challenge to civilian control in the United States that originates in the disparaging attitudes military personnel hold toward civilian society. We argue that when military personnel view military culture as superior, they are more likely …
What’s in a name? Experimental evidence of the coup taboo
Leaders of military coups routinely deny that their actions amount to a coup, often labelling them as revolutions or even constitutional successions. These attempts to muddy the waters occasionally succeed in prompting discussions over whether the military’s actions truly amount to a coup. But does the label matter? Does public support for military intervention decrease when it is labelled a coup? If so, how large is this “coup taboo”? In this ar…
Who fakes support for the military? Experimental evidence from Tunisia
Surveys around the world report exceptionally high levels of support for the military. This is particularly relevant for countries in transition from authoritarian rule to democracy, where militaries can play a vital role for democratic consolidation or autocratic backsliding. Given the sensitive nature of the issue, we suspect that figures indicating strong support for the military are at least partly driven by sensitivity bias. We explore this …
Political, Not Partisan: The Tunisian General Labor Union under Democracy
Under what conditions do trade unions participate in elections during democratic transitions? Conventional explanations focus on unions' economic interests, organizational power, and militancy in the lead-up to democratization. The behavior of the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), however, challenges these expectations. Despite its organizational strength and prominent role in the country's transition, as well as the presence of economic incen…
Military Conscription and Nonviolent Resistance
Nonviolent campaigns against repressive regimes often turn on the military’s decision to either defend the ruler or make common cause with the ruled. Yet surprisingly little scholarship investigates opposition expectations for the military’s likely response to mass protest. We theorize that some determinants of the military’s willingness to repress are more observable to activists than others. In particular, we identify conscription as a highly s…
Norm Diffusion through US Military Training in Tunisia
Proponents claim that US military training diffuses norms of democracy and civilian control into foreign militaries. I argue that foreign trainees are likely to absorb the United States’ entire pattern of civil-military relations, including the more political trends that have emerged in recent decades, such as military personnel identifying with and voting for political parties, and serving in senior positions in government upon retirement. Throu…
Norm Diffusion through US Military Training: An Exchange
Why Sudan Succeeded Where Algeria Failed
Tunisia's Foiled Coup of 1987: The November 8th Group
In 1987 Tunisian prime minister Zine al-'Abidine Ben 'Ali seized power from the ailing president, Habib Bourguiba. Less well-known is that Ben 'Ali's coup had preempted another coup plot planned for the following day. This article recounts the story of this latter plot, led by the November 8th Group, a coalition of about 200 individuals in the military, security forces, and the Islamic Tendency Movement (MTI). Drawing on memoirs and interviews, t…
From Islamists to Muslim Democrats: The Case of Tunisia's Ennahda
What drives some Islamists to become "Muslim Democrats," downplaying religion and accepting secular democracy? This article hypothesizes that one channel of ideological change is migration to secular democracies. Drawing on an ideal point analysis of parliamentary votes from the Tunisian Islamist movement Ennahda, I find that MPs who had lived in secular democracies held more liberal voting records than their counterparts who had lived only in Tu…
How to Sell a Coup: Elections as Coup Legitimation
Unlike other political leaders, leaders coming to power through military coups face a dual legitimation challenge: they must justify not only why they should rule but also how they came to power. Little attention has been paid to how coup leaders solve this legitimacy deficit and even less to the audiences of this legitimation. We ask: why do some coup leaders legitimate their coups by holding elections while others do not? Counterintuitively, we…
Military Defection During Localized Protests: The Case of Tataouine
In May 2017, the Tunisian military allowed protesters to storm and shut down an oil valve in Tataouine, in contravention of a direct order from President Essebsi to defend the production site. While scholars have recently examined military defection during mass uprisings, these protests were small and localized. Why did the military disobey President Essebsi in Tataouine? Drawing upon a survey of military officers conducted six months prior to th…
Down and Out: Founding Elections and Disillusionment with Democracy in Egypt and Tunisia
Poverty and Divine Rewards: The Electoral Advantage of Islamist Political Parties
Political life in many Muslim‐majority countries has been marked by the electoral dominance of Islamist parties. Recent attempts to explain why have highlighted their material and organizational factors, such as the provision of social services. In this article, we revive an older literature that emphasizes the appeal of these parties’ religious nature to voters experiencing economic hardship. Individuals suffering economic strain may vote for Is…
Explaining military defection and loyalty in the Mediterranean
How militaries respond to mass uprisings can make or break a revolution. If militaries decide to suppress protesters, as in Bahrain in 2011, autocrats can often re-establish control. If militaries
Military Defection During Localized Protests: The Case of Tataouine
In May 2017, the Tunisian military allowed protesters to storm and shut down an oil valve in Tataouine, in contravention of a direct order from President Essebsi to defend the production site. While scholars have recently examined military defection during mass uprisings, these protests were small and localized. Why did the military disobey President Essebsi in Tataouine? Drawing upon a survey of military officers conducted six months prior to th…
How to Sell a Coup: Elections as Coup Legitimation
Unlike other political leaders, leaders coming to power through military coups face a dual legitimation challenge: they must justify not only why they should rule but also how they came to power. Little attention has been paid to how coup leaders solve this legitimacy deficit and even less to the audiences of this legitimation. We ask: why do some coup leaders legitimate their coups by holding elections while others do not? Counterintuitively, we…
Poverty and Divine Rewards: The Electoral Advantage of Islamist Political Parties
Political life in many Muslim‐majority countries has been marked by the electoral dominance of Islamist parties. Recent attempts to explain why have highlighted their material and organizational factors, such as the provision of social services. In this article, we revive an older literature that emphasizes the appeal of these parties’ religious nature to voters experiencing economic hardship. Individuals suffering economic strain may vote for Is…
From Islamists to Muslim Democrats: The Case of Tunisia's Ennahda
What drives some Islamists to become "Muslim Democrats," downplaying religion and accepting secular democracy? This article hypothesizes that one channel of ideological change is migration to secular democracies. Drawing on an ideal point analysis of parliamentary votes from the Tunisian Islamist movement Ennahda, I find that MPs who had lived in secular democracies held more liberal voting records than their counterparts who had lived only in Tu…
Discrimination, Inclusion, and Anti‐System Attitudes among Muslims in Germany
Muslims in Europe and North America face high rates of discrimination and hostility. Less clear are the consequences of this prejudice on Muslims’ political attitudes. Leveraging a survey of 1,330 Muslims in Germany, we show that Muslims who have personally experienced discrimination exhibit higher anti‐system tendencies: more supportive of violence, more supportive of Islamism, and less supportive of democracy and secularism. We also find that t…
Regime Support and Gender Quotas in Autocracies
Gender quotas are increasingly being adopted by autocrats in part to legitimize their rule. Yet, even in autocracies, these quotas increase women's political representation. It thus stands to reason that public support for gender quotas in autocracies might be shaped by this trade-off between advancing women's rights and granting the regime legitimacy. All else equal, regime opponents should be less supportive of gender quotas in autocracies, war…
Twice the Citizen: How Military Attitudes of Superiority Undermine Civilian Control in the United States
Civilian control of the military is central to the making of security policy, ensuring that civilian officials and the elected leaders that appoint them oversee and decide military affairs. This paper exposes a challenge to civilian control in the United States that originates in the disparaging attitudes military personnel hold toward civilian society. We argue that when military personnel view military culture as superior, they are more likely …
Military Conscription and Nonviolent Resistance
Nonviolent campaigns against repressive regimes often turn on the military’s decision to either defend the ruler or make common cause with the ruled. Yet surprisingly little scholarship investigates opposition expectations for the military’s likely response to mass protest. We theorize that some determinants of the military’s willingness to repress are more observable to activists than others. In particular, we identify conscription as a highly s…
Why Sudan Succeeded Where Algeria Failed
Who fakes support for the military? Experimental evidence from Tunisia
Surveys around the world report exceptionally high levels of support for the military. This is particularly relevant for countries in transition from authoritarian rule to democracy, where militaries can play a vital role for democratic consolidation or autocratic backsliding. Given the sensitive nature of the issue, we suspect that figures indicating strong support for the military are at least partly driven by sensitivity bias. We explore this …
Down and Out: Founding Elections and Disillusionment with Democracy in Egypt and Tunisia
Military Repression and Restraint in Algeria
The Algerian military's response to the 2019-2020 Hirak protests was relatively peaceful. In contrast to its violent repression of protests in 1988, and subsequent coup and civil war in the 1990s, the military showed considerable restraint toward the Hirak. Leveraging a survey of 2,235 self-reported military personnel, I show that the military's restraint emanated from protesters' use of nonviolence and fraternization, as well as from a recogniti…
Ghosts of the Black Decade: How legacies of violence shaped Algeria's Hirak protests
Episodes of mass political violence, such as genocide and civil war, have been thought to both encourage and discourage future political mobilization. We square these competing hypotheses by disaggregating between protest onset and resilience. We argue that exposure to mass violence decades ago should on average decrease protest onset, by heightening fears of repression and retribution. However, conditional on protesting, prior exposure to violen…
Political, Not Partisan: The Tunisian General Labor Union under Democracy
Under what conditions do trade unions participate in elections during democratic transitions? Conventional explanations focus on unions' economic interests, organizational power, and militancy in the lead-up to democratization. The behavior of the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), however, challenges these expectations. Despite its organizational strength and prominent role in the country's transition, as well as the presence of economic incen…
What’s in a name? Experimental evidence of the coup taboo
Leaders of military coups routinely deny that their actions amount to a coup, often labelling them as revolutions or even constitutional successions. These attempts to muddy the waters occasionally succeed in prompting discussions over whether the military’s actions truly amount to a coup. But does the label matter? Does public support for military intervention decrease when it is labelled a coup? If so, how large is this “coup taboo”? In this ar…
Norm Diffusion through US Military Training in Tunisia
Proponents claim that US military training diffuses norms of democracy and civilian control into foreign militaries. I argue that foreign trainees are likely to absorb the United States’ entire pattern of civil-military relations, including the more political trends that have emerged in recent decades, such as military personnel identifying with and voting for political parties, and serving in senior positions in government upon retirement. Throu…
Tunisia's Foiled Coup of 1987: The November 8th Group
In 1987 Tunisian prime minister Zine al-'Abidine Ben 'Ali seized power from the ailing president, Habib Bourguiba. Less well-known is that Ben 'Ali's coup had preempted another coup plot planned for the following day. This article recounts the story of this latter plot, led by the November 8th Group, a coalition of about 200 individuals in the military, security forces, and the Islamic Tendency Movement (MTI). Drawing on memoirs and interviews, t…
Can Religious Reinterpretations Bridge the Secular-Religious Divide? Experimental Evidence from Tunisia
Domestic politics around the globe have become increasingly polarized along secular-religious lines. Recent literature suggests that one way to ease secular-religious tension and gridlock is for religious leaders to offer progressive reinterpretations of religious texts, that might convince religious conservatives to compromise from their seemingly-fixed policy positions. But can everyday citizens deploy religious reinterpretations themselves? We…
Preaching Politics: How Politicization Undermines Religious Authority in the Middle East
A growing body of research demonstrates that political involvement by Christian religious leaders can undermine the religion's social influence. Do these negative consequences of politicization also extend to Islam? Contrary to scholarly and popular accounts that describe Islam as inherently political, we argue that Muslim religious leaders will weaken their religious authority when they engage with politics. We test this argument with a conjoint…
Norm Diffusion through US Military Training: An Exchange
Explaining military defection and loyalty in the Mediterranean
How militaries respond to mass uprisings can make or break a revolution. If militaries decide to suppress protesters, as in Bahrain in 2011, autocrats can often re-establish control. If militaries
How to Sell a Coup: Elections as Coup Legitimation
Unlike other political leaders, leaders coming to power through military coups face a dual legitimation challenge: they must justify not only why they should rule but also how they came to power. Little attention has been paid to how coup leaders solve this legitimacy deficit and even less to the audiences of this legitimation. We ask: why do some coup leaders legitimate their coups by holding elections while others do not? Counterintuitively, we…
Military Defection During Localized Protests: The Case of Tataouine
In May 2017, the Tunisian military allowed protesters to storm and shut down an oil valve in Tataouine, in contravention of a direct order from President Essebsi to defend the production site. While scholars have recently examined military defection during mass uprisings, these protests were small and localized. Why did the military disobey President Essebsi in Tataouine? Drawing upon a survey of military officers conducted six months prior to th…
Down and Out: Founding Elections and Disillusionment with Democracy in Egypt and Tunisia
Poverty and Divine Rewards: The Electoral Advantage of Islamist Political Parties
Political life in many Muslim‐majority countries has been marked by the electoral dominance of Islamist parties. Recent attempts to explain why have highlighted their material and organizational factors, such as the provision of social services. In this article, we revive an older literature that emphasizes the appeal of these parties’ religious nature to voters experiencing economic hardship. Individuals suffering economic strain may vote for Is…
Tunisia's Foiled Coup of 1987: The November 8th Group
In 1987 Tunisian prime minister Zine al-'Abidine Ben 'Ali seized power from the ailing president, Habib Bourguiba. Less well-known is that Ben 'Ali's coup had preempted another coup plot planned for the following day. This article recounts the story of this latter plot, led by the November 8th Group, a coalition of about 200 individuals in the military, security forces, and the Islamic Tendency Movement (MTI). Drawing on memoirs and interviews, t…
From Islamists to Muslim Democrats: The Case of Tunisia's Ennahda
What drives some Islamists to become "Muslim Democrats," downplaying religion and accepting secular democracy? This article hypothesizes that one channel of ideological change is migration to secular democracies. Drawing on an ideal point analysis of parliamentary votes from the Tunisian Islamist movement Ennahda, I find that MPs who had lived in secular democracies held more liberal voting records than their counterparts who had lived only in Tu…
Why Sudan Succeeded Where Algeria Failed
Twice the Citizen: How Military Attitudes of Superiority Undermine Civilian Control in the United States
Civilian control of the military is central to the making of security policy, ensuring that civilian officials and the elected leaders that appoint them oversee and decide military affairs. This paper exposes a challenge to civilian control in the United States that originates in the disparaging attitudes military personnel hold toward civilian society. We argue that when military personnel view military culture as superior, they are more likely …
What’s in a name? Experimental evidence of the coup taboo
Leaders of military coups routinely deny that their actions amount to a coup, often labelling them as revolutions or even constitutional successions. These attempts to muddy the waters occasionally succeed in prompting discussions over whether the military’s actions truly amount to a coup. But does the label matter? Does public support for military intervention decrease when it is labelled a coup? If so, how large is this “coup taboo”? In this ar…
Who fakes support for the military? Experimental evidence from Tunisia
Surveys around the world report exceptionally high levels of support for the military. This is particularly relevant for countries in transition from authoritarian rule to democracy, where militaries can play a vital role for democratic consolidation or autocratic backsliding. Given the sensitive nature of the issue, we suspect that figures indicating strong support for the military are at least partly driven by sensitivity bias. We explore this …
Political, Not Partisan: The Tunisian General Labor Union under Democracy
Under what conditions do trade unions participate in elections during democratic transitions? Conventional explanations focus on unions' economic interests, organizational power, and militancy in the lead-up to democratization. The behavior of the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), however, challenges these expectations. Despite its organizational strength and prominent role in the country's transition, as well as the presence of economic incen…
Military Conscription and Nonviolent Resistance
Nonviolent campaigns against repressive regimes often turn on the military’s decision to either defend the ruler or make common cause with the ruled. Yet surprisingly little scholarship investigates opposition expectations for the military’s likely response to mass protest. We theorize that some determinants of the military’s willingness to repress are more observable to activists than others. In particular, we identify conscription as a highly s…
Norm Diffusion through US Military Training in Tunisia
Proponents claim that US military training diffuses norms of democracy and civilian control into foreign militaries. I argue that foreign trainees are likely to absorb the United States’ entire pattern of civil-military relations, including the more political trends that have emerged in recent decades, such as military personnel identifying with and voting for political parties, and serving in senior positions in government upon retirement. Throu…
Norm Diffusion through US Military Training: An Exchange
Can Religious Reinterpretations Bridge the Secular-Religious Divide? Experimental Evidence from Tunisia
Domestic politics around the globe have become increasingly polarized along secular-religious lines. Recent literature suggests that one way to ease secular-religious tension and gridlock is for religious leaders to offer progressive reinterpretations of religious texts, that might convince religious conservatives to compromise from their seemingly-fixed policy positions. But can everyday citizens deploy religious reinterpretations themselves? We…
Preaching Politics: How Politicization Undermines Religious Authority in the Middle East
A growing body of research demonstrates that political involvement by Christian religious leaders can undermine the religion's social influence. Do these negative consequences of politicization also extend to Islam? Contrary to scholarly and popular accounts that describe Islam as inherently political, we argue that Muslim religious leaders will weaken their religious authority when they engage with politics. We test this argument with a conjoint…
Ghosts of the Black Decade: How legacies of violence shaped Algeria's Hirak protests
Episodes of mass political violence, such as genocide and civil war, have been thought to both encourage and discourage future political mobilization. We square these competing hypotheses by disaggregating between protest onset and resilience. We argue that exposure to mass violence decades ago should on average decrease protest onset, by heightening fears of repression and retribution. However, conditional on protesting, prior exposure to violen…
Discrimination, Inclusion, and Anti‐System Attitudes among Muslims in Germany
Muslims in Europe and North America face high rates of discrimination and hostility. Less clear are the consequences of this prejudice on Muslims’ political attitudes. Leveraging a survey of 1,330 Muslims in Germany, we show that Muslims who have personally experienced discrimination exhibit higher anti‐system tendencies: more supportive of violence, more supportive of Islamism, and less supportive of democracy and secularism. We also find that t…
Regime Support and Gender Quotas in Autocracies
Gender quotas are increasingly being adopted by autocrats in part to legitimize their rule. Yet, even in autocracies, these quotas increase women's political representation. It thus stands to reason that public support for gender quotas in autocracies might be shaped by this trade-off between advancing women's rights and granting the regime legitimacy. All else equal, regime opponents should be less supportive of gender quotas in autocracies, war…
Military Repression and Restraint in Algeria
The Algerian military's response to the 2019-2020 Hirak protests was relatively peaceful. In contrast to its violent repression of protests in 1988, and subsequent coup and civil war in the 1990s, the military showed considerable restraint toward the Hirak. Leveraging a survey of 2,235 self-reported military personnel, I show that the military's restraint emanated from protesters' use of nonviolence and fraternization, as well as from a recogniti…
The Islamist Advantage: The Religious Infrastructure of Electoral Victory
Why do Islamists regularly win elections in the Middle East? Why, for instance, did Ennahda perform well in every election in Tunisia’s democratic era (2011–2021)? I argue that regular interactions in mosques allow Islamists to build deeper ties and greater trust with their supporters than secular parties can. Post-election, this trust also allows Islamists to better sell their performance and justify their compromises, contributing to re-electio…
Political science (22 works) · Law (21 works) · Law (18 works) · Politics (18 works) · Political economy (16 works) · Sociology (16 works) · Economics (9 works) · Political Conflict and Governance (9 works) · Democracy (8 works) · History (5 works)