Paradoxes of Liberal Democracy: Islam, Western Europe, and the Danish Cartoon Crisis

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Description

In 2005, twelve cartoons mocking the prophet Mohammed appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, igniting a political firestorm over demands by some Muslims that the claims of their religious faith take precedence over freedom of expression. Given the explosive reaction from Middle Eastern governments, Muslim clerics, and some Danish politic

Reviews

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2015 "This fascinating book addresses a fundamental problem of immense importance for current social and political life in a functioning Western democracy. Starting from the cartoon crisis that highlighted the clash of democratic values and Muslim fundamentalism, the authors employ a rich combination of qualitative and survey research methods to examine the responses of Danes that puzzled observers... This study, rich in empirical evidence on the Danish example, provides insight into how other Western democracies could learn to better relations with immigrant minorities in their countries."--Choice "The analysis presented in this book is structured well, clearly organized and argued, and deeply rooted in survey and experimental empirical data. The authors build a persuasive argument out of relatively basic but solid quantitative evidence, and thus the book should be an accessible read at either the undergraduate or graduate level."--Kelley Strawn, American Journal of Sociology "The book's perspective is enticing, not to say timely... The book's effort to overcome the clash of values between Islam and the West is quite laudable."--Jocelyne Cesari, Journal of Church and State

Author Bio

Paul M. Sniderman is the Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr. Professor of Public Policy at Stanford University and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Michael Bang Petersen, Rune Slothuus, and Rune Stubager are professors of political science at Aarhus University in Denmark.