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The fate of the Arab Spring and its implications for Islamic democracy are far from certain, but Tunisia and its revolution have made substantial progress in ensuring religious freedom and tolerance in the country's political structure, writes political scientist Alfred Stepan in the Journal of Democracy (April). In comparison to Egypt, the revolution in Tunisia, where the Arab Spring began, has taken greater strides toward establishing an autonomous and democratic political society. This is because Tunisia, through a process of negotiation between religious and secular actors, was able to incorporate what Stepan calls the "twin tolerations" - noninterference by the government in religion and religious parties, while religious groups and parties refrain from asserting special claims based on access to the divine - much earlier than Egypt.