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Chapman’s News & Ideas Tunisia Offers New Hope for Democracy in Islamic Land

Bruce Chapman
October 29, 2014
Foreign Policy

A Sample Ballot

A Sample Ballot

The elections in Tunisia yesterday showed that democracy is a real and growing commitment in the country where the “Arab Spring” began three years ago. Maybe because free choice has taken such a varied beating elsewhere in the region, Tunisians seemed determined to use the levers of the franchise to create a new political reality in this overwhelmingly Muslim land on the African coast south of Sicily.

Some fifteen teams with the International Republican Institute–me among them–fanned out to 200 polling stations early yesterday morning and didn’t get back to their headquarters until late last night or today. Voter urnout was up–from 50 percent for the first elections in 2011 to an estimated 60 percent yesterday. Final returns won’t be published until Thursday, though some news services already are predicting results.

A poster on the voting process, outside a polling station.

A poster on the voting process, outside a polling station.

Discreet campaigning on the streets of Tunis.

Discreet campaigning on the streets of Tunis.

Our driver, after voting.

Our driver, after voting.

Congressman Tom Petri and I meet election officials

Congressman Tom Petri and I meet election officials

International Republic Institute (IRI) Press Conference

International Republic Institute (IRI) Press Conference

Bruce Chapman

Cofounder and Chairman of the Board of Discovery Institute
Bruce Chapman has had a long career in American politics and public policy at the city, state, national, and international levels. Elected to the Seattle City Council and as Washington State's Secretary of State, he also served in several leadership posts in the Reagan administration, including ambassador. In 1991, he founded the public policy think tank Discovery Institute, where he currently serves as Chairman of the Board and director of the Chapman Center on Citizen Leadership.