- Istanbul, Turkey: https://faculty.ozyegin.edu.tr/muratsomer/
MURAT SOMER
Ozyegin University, Politics and International Relations, Faculty Member
- Koç University, International Relations and Political Science, Faculty Memberadd
- International Relations and Political Science, Conflict, Democratization, Modern Turkey, Balkan Studies, Religious and Secular Politics, and 19 moreEthnic Conflict, Middle East Politics, Elites (Political Science), Content Analysis, Polarization (Ideology), Political Culture, Media and Politics, Ethnic Identity, Kurdish Studies, Comparative Politics, Political Islam, Media and Democracy, Yugoslavia, Secularisms and Secularities, Ethnic politics, Politics of Secularism, Social Polarization, Social Sciences, and Political Scienceedit
- Murat Somer is Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Özyeğin University Istanbul.edit
Which peculiar uncertainties does democratic erosion (DE) pose to opposition actors? How have these uncertainties influenced the behavior of opposition actors during Turkey’s autocratization since the early 2000s? What can we learn from... more
Which peculiar uncertainties does democratic erosion (DE) pose to opposition actors? How have these uncertainties influenced the behavior of opposition actors during Turkey’s autocratization since the early 2000s? What can we learn from this case regarding the links between DE and opposition behavior? The latter should be treated as an integral part of explaining DE—the gradual decline in the quality of multiple aspects of democracy under popularly elected governments. We argue that a contextual uncertainty, “regime uncertainty” (RU) challenged Turkish opposition actors, compounding the other and related uncertainties they faced such as institutional and strategic uncertainties and affecting their resilience against DE. RU concerns the ambivalence that DE’s inherent qualities generate about what the regime is, or is becoming. The resulting intra-opposition divisions and indecisions raise the question of whether the primary context, frame and end of opposition politics should be issue- and party-based competitive politics or defending democracy against an imminent threat. Hence, RU generates recurring rifts over “normal” versus “extraordinary” politics. We analyze the Turkish experience and intra-opposition politics in four sub-periods (nascent DE, consolidation of erosive power, advanced DE, breakdown and post-breakdown opposition experimentation). Turkish opposition actors’ RU perceptions and resulting behaviors evolved on highly non-linear paths. We offer novel analytical/theoretical tools and argue that the agency and capacity of oppositions to overcome RU in a country, alongside their ability to surmount other challenges, should be considered an integral part of democratic resilience against erosion.
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My book (Return to Point Zero: The Turkish-Kurdish Question and How Politics and Ideas (Re-)make Empires, Nations, and States) is finally out: https://www.amazon.com/Return-Point-Zero-Turkish-Kurdish-Question/dp/1438486715
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Kutuplaşma, Türkiye de dahil kutuplaşmanın emarelerini taşıyan her ülke için önemini yitirmeyen bir mesele olarak Kovid-19 döneminde bile gündemdeki yerini koruyor. Çünkü, bu ülkelerde kutuplaşma derinleştikçe krizlerin kutuplaşmadan... more
Kutuplaşma, Türkiye de dahil kutuplaşmanın emarelerini taşıyan her ülke için önemini yitirmeyen bir mesele olarak Kovid-19 döneminde bile gündemdeki yerini koruyor. Çünkü, bu ülkelerde kutuplaşma derinleştikçe krizlerin kutuplaşmadan bağımsız olarak algılanması oldukça güçleşiyor. Bu da insanların önüne çıkan her krizin bir bölümünü kutuplaşma ile bezeli yapıyor.
Bu dinamikleri derinlemesine incelemek için Prof. Dr. Murat Somer ile kutuplaşma üzerine röportaj yaptık. İki bölüm halinde yayınlanacak bu röportajın ilk bölümünde, kutuplaşmanın günümüzdeki örneklerini konuştuk. Sonrasında Murat Somer’in çalışmalarına referansla kutuplaşmanın tanımı ve açıklaması, Türkiye’de kutuplaşmanın hikâyesi ve kutuplaşmanın derinleştiği AK Parti dönemi ele alındı. İkinci bölümünde ise kutuplaşmanın nasıl aşılabileceğini ve çözümleri konuştuk. Bu bağlamda Türkiye’de yarattığı demokrasi erozyonu, siyaseten çözümü veya buna karşı mücadele etmenin yolları tartışıldı.
Bu dinamikleri derinlemesine incelemek için Prof. Dr. Murat Somer ile kutuplaşma üzerine röportaj yaptık. İki bölüm halinde yayınlanacak bu röportajın ilk bölümünde, kutuplaşmanın günümüzdeki örneklerini konuştuk. Sonrasında Murat Somer’in çalışmalarına referansla kutuplaşmanın tanımı ve açıklaması, Türkiye’de kutuplaşmanın hikâyesi ve kutuplaşmanın derinleştiği AK Parti dönemi ele alındı. İkinci bölümünde ise kutuplaşmanın nasıl aşılabileceğini ve çözümleri konuştuk. Bu bağlamda Türkiye’de yarattığı demokrasi erozyonu, siyaseten çözümü veya buna karşı mücadele etmenin yolları tartışıldı.
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This insightful book by Murat Somer sheds light on a very critical debate in the politics of Turkey, namely the Kurdish question, which has persisted under different international and domestic contexts for more than a century. The issue... more
This insightful book by Murat Somer sheds light on a very critical debate in the politics of Turkey, namely the Kurdish question, which has persisted under different international and domestic contexts for more than a century. The issue has significance for various dimensions such as democratisation, identity, security , societal peace and socioeconomic development, and relates not only to Turkey but also to the region in which it is located. The quintessence of the book is to explore the foundations of an order at the state and society level that would resolve the Kurdish question. To this end, this book offers a novel, well-structured and analytical outlook to the Kurdish question from a constructivist perspective by synthesising scholarly discussions on ethnic studies, identities, polarisation, democratisation, and religious and secular politics. Therefore, while the book explores the causes impeding the resolution of the Kurdish question, it also aims to discuss the relation between modernity and ethnic identities, democratisation, socioeconomic and cultural ruptures and their dynamics not directly related to the Kurds. The book takes two approaches: conceptual and empirical. In the conceptual part, Somer offers robust definitions of the concepts used in both the academic literature and contemporary discussions regarding the Kurdish question. The empirical part, on the other hand, analyses standard narratives constructed since the early period of modernisation in Turkey, which contributed to the emergence of Kurdish question through a shift from a compatible identity model to rival identity model. Conceptually, the main hypothesis developed in the book is based on 'The Three Dilemmas' , which have shaped and continue to shape the Kurdish question. This critical trilogy comprises the foreign insecurity dilemma, the elite cooperation dilemma and the common identity dilemma, which manifested themselves along with different factors emerging from domestic and international political developments. The foreign insecurity dilemma refers to eliminating the likelihood of the establishment of a Kurdish state that would result from the separation of Turkish Kurds and their integration with the Kurds in the rest of the region. The elite cooperation dilemma refers to the inability to sustain elite unity among moderate actors to balance each other and work together in resolving the Kurdish question. Finally, the common identity dilemma refers to the inability to define a common national identity, which would not impose a same name and meaning, but would rather be able to meet the book reviews 186 Downloaded from Brill.com07/03/2020 05:42:39PM via communal account
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Research Interests: Democratization, American Political Development, Modern Greece, Democracy, Political Islam in Turkey, and 12 moreAuthoritarianism, Zimbabwe Politics and Society, Politics in Thailand, Venezuelan Politics, Polarization, Bangladesh politics, Politics in Turkey, South African politics, Philippines Politics, Politics of Poland, Politics of Hungary, and Democratic Backsliding
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The recent global wave of autocratization is characterized by the incremental subversion of democracy from within by elected governments (democratic erosion). This article explains why democratic erosion is hard to reverse for opposition... more
The recent global wave of autocratization is characterized by the incremental subversion of democracy from within by elected governments (democratic erosion). This article explains why democratic erosion is hard to reverse for opposition actors, even though it develops incrementally and often by using formally legal and democratic means. Complex causal mechanisms triggered by what we call regime uncertainty create specific dilemmas dividing opposition actors at elite and mass levels into alarmists, strategic alarmists, and cautioners. The resolution of these dilemmas takes time, learning, and creativity and there is no one-size-fits-all formula: our case studies from Venezuela and Turkey show that opposition actors often experiment and oscillate between normal and extraordinary countering strategies and between preservative and generative political goals. We also offer a preliminary discussion of how opposition actors may manage to address the dilemmas and successfully counter democ...
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This insightful book by Murat Somer sheds light on a very critical debate in the politics of Turkey, namely the Kurdish question, which has persisted under different international and domestic contexts for more than a century. The issue... more
This insightful book by Murat Somer sheds light on a very critical debate in the politics of Turkey, namely the Kurdish question, which has persisted under different international and domestic contexts for more than a century. The issue has significance for various dimensions such as democratisation, identity, security , societal peace and socioeconomic development, and relates not only to Turkey but also to the region in which it is located. The quintessence of the book is to explore the foundations of an order at the state and society level that would resolve the Kurdish question. To this end, this book offers a novel, well-structured and analytical outlook to the Kurdish question from a constructivist perspective by synthesising scholarly discussions on ethnic studies, identities, polarisation, democratisation, and religious and secular politics. Therefore, while the book explores the causes impeding the resolution of the Kurdish question, it also aims to discuss the relation between modernity and ethnic identities, democratisation, socioeconomic and cultural ruptures and their dynamics not directly related to the Kurds. The book takes two approaches: conceptual and empirical. In the conceptual part, Somer offers robust definitions of the concepts used in both the academic literature and contemporary discussions regarding the Kurdish question. The empirical part, on the other hand, analyses standard narratives constructed since the early period of modernisation in Turkey, which contributed to the emergence of Kurdish question through a shift from a compatible identity model to rival identity model. Conceptually, the main hypothesis developed in the book is based on 'The Three Dilemmas' , which have shaped and continue to shape the Kurdish question. This critical trilogy comprises the foreign insecurity dilemma, the elite cooperation dilemma and the common identity dilemma, which manifested themselves along with different factors emerging from domestic and international political developments. The foreign insecurity dilemma refers to eliminating the likelihood of the establishment of a Kurdish state that would result from the separation of Turkish Kurds and their integration with the Kurds in the rest of the region. The elite cooperation dilemma refers to the inability to sustain elite unity among moderate actors to balance each other and work together in resolving the Kurdish question. Finally, the common identity dilemma refers to the inability to define a common national identity, which would not impose a same name and meaning, but would rather be able to meet the book reviews 186 Downloaded from Brill.com07/03/2020 05:42:39PM via communal account
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Do political-Islamic elites need to be democrats for participation in de-mocracy, how do their values compare to secular elites’, and how do their values change through participation and affect democratization itself? A... more
Do political-Islamic elites need to be democrats for participation in de-mocracy, how do their values compare to secular elites’, and how do their values change through participation and affect democratization itself? A comparative-systematic content analysis of three Islamic-conservative and two pro-secular Turkish newspapers over nine years shows that, overall, political-Islamic elites adopt democratic political values. Furthermore, they began to view that liberal-democratic rights and freedoms serve their inter-ests. However, value democratization, and, thus, moderation and democra-tization, is not a linear and inexorable process automatically resulting from participation or socioeconomic development. It occurs through ruptures such as conflicts with secular actors, and interdependently through the in-teractions of secular and religious actors. Hence, religious actors ’ adoption of more democracy may paradoxically make some secular actors less demo-cratic. The consolidation of pl...
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How do Albanian and Turkish models of secularism, both branded after the Frenchstyle Laïcité, translate European concepts into indigenous, case-specific models? And, how have Muslim majorities reacted to, embraced but also contested the... more
How do Albanian and Turkish models of secularism, both branded after the Frenchstyle Laïcité, translate European concepts into indigenous, case-specific models? And, how have Muslim majorities reacted to, embraced but also contested the established institutional arrangements? This article explores the evolution of secular institutional arrangements adopted in Albania and Turkey since their foundation as independent states and along different time periods and political regimes. We embody the analysis into two ideal-type secular traditions – civic-republican and liberal – each proposing different political projects and related institutional arrangements within the context of European modernity. The findings suggest that since independence both countries opted for variations of the state-engineered republican model, which insists in reformation of religion, social engineering, separation between state and religion and an interventionist state. Yet, those models also took case-specific ...
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This is an extended and updated version of the papers presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, August 30-September 2, 2007, and at the Annual Convention of the Association for the Study... more
This is an extended and updated version of the papers presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, August 30-September 2, 2007, and at the Annual Convention of the Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture (ASREC), November 2-4, 2007, Tampa, FLThe paper develops a series of theses regarding the relationship between Political Islam (PI) and secular democracy. Turkey is a crucial case because it could achieve liberal-democratic consolidation, even while under a government rooted in political Islamism, which would be unprecedented in societies where Islam is the culture of the majority. Political participation, economic participation, or secularist sanctions cannot by themselves lead to sustainable moderation of PI. The author makes a detailed examination of current causes and conditions, including those necessary for democratization
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This chapter identifies two conceptual distinctions to differentiate Turkey’s current polarization-cum-autocratization from earlier episodes of polarization and to explain how polarization undermines Turkey’s democratization. First, one... more
This chapter identifies two conceptual distinctions to differentiate Turkey’s current polarization-cum-autocratization from earlier episodes of polarization and to explain how polarization undermines Turkey’s democratization. First, one needs to adopt a “political and relational” definition of polarization. Second, one must distinguish between exclusionary and inclusionary polarizations. Episodes of polarization are started by actors who re-bundle preexisting societal rifts and generate new ones to pursue political goals. But polarization becomes “pernicious,” i.e. begins to erode democracy, “relationally,” i.e. through the actions of these polarizing agents and the reactions of their opponents. In Turkey, exclusionary polarizations were instigated by nationalist elites to exclude various minorities, producing an outright undemocratic legacy. By comparison, inclusionary polarizations had democratizing potential because they were started by political entrepreneurs who pursued popular...
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Case studies of Turkey are typically read and cited as narratives of the Turkish case itself, suppliers of case-specific data, or at best, applications of more general theories. They are not perceived as theory-testing, producing, or even... more
Case studies of Turkey are typically read and cited as narratives of the Turkish case itself, suppliers of case-specific data, or at best, applications of more general theories. They are not perceived as theory-testing, producing, or even informing exercises. While this tendency partly results from the institutional, geographical-cultural, and methodological biases of extant social sciences, scholars may also be to blame for neglecting theorydevelopment or for producing descriptive narratives. How can Turkish Studies scholars successfully contribute to general theory-development in their respective disciplines? The main value of Turkey for producing theory may lie in its rare combination of many qualities and in its temporal and regional variations. Thus, this article argues that, besides small-N and large-N comparative studies, the most promising way Turkish Studies can engage in theorybuilding may be by examining Turkey as a theory-developing critical case, i.e. as a crucial or, p...
This paper is aimed at contributing to a better understanding of the relationship between religious politics and democracy in general, and political Islam and democracy in particular. For this purpose, the paper takes steps toward... more
This paper is aimed at contributing to a better understanding of the relationship between religious politics and democracy in general, and political Islam and democracy in particular. For this purpose, the paper takes steps toward explaining the emergence of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), by discussing it in terms of a series of analytical propositions about religious politics and democratic consolidation. The paper shows that the AKP has so far featured a significantly more liberal-democratic and pro-West discourse and program than its predecessors have. It identifies the political-economic and institutional conditions that appear to have facilitated the AKP’s emergence, and places special emphasis on the EU as an external anchor and on the intended and unintended consequences of past pressures by secularist institutions. Theoretical implications as well as conditions that are necessary for the continuation and credibility of the AKP’s liberal-democratization,...
From a conceptual-theoretical as well as political perspective, this essay examines the interrelationships between the identity and foreign policy dimensions of Turkey’s Kurdish question and makes policy recommendations. Recent domestic... more
From a conceptual-theoretical as well as political perspective, this essay examines the interrelationships between the identity and foreign policy dimensions of Turkey’s Kurdish question and makes policy recommendations. Recent domestic and regional developments present both opportunities and great risks for Turkey’s social, political and territorial cohesion, peace and stability. In order to utilize the opportunities, Turkey needs to simultaneously achieve two goals. Domestically, it needs to successfully continue its present peace process and achieve genuine democratization. This process should culminate in a state of affairs whereby the complex social and political questions underlying the Kurdish question can be processed through the mechanisms of normal democratic politics and with the participation of legitimate Kurdish political actors. One crucial and insufficiently understood challenge the Turkish state and society have to manage during the peace process is the challenge of...
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Summary By integrating insights from the literatures on trust, cascade theories of interdependent choices, democratic transition, and ethnic-religious conflict, this article develops a parsimonious explanation for violent breakdowns of... more
Summary By integrating insights from the literatures on trust, cascade theories of interdependent choices, democratic transition, and ethnic-religious conflict, this article develops a parsimonious explanation for violent breakdowns of socioeconomic mixing in ethnically or religiously diverse communities. The application to Yugoslavia sheds light on several insufficiently explained aspects of the Yugoslav conflict. First, it offers a simple explanation for crossregional variations in trust between ethnic-religious communities, and in vulnerability to violent breakdown. Second, it describes how an insincere public-political discourse under communism, and institutions and policies that insufficiently promoted socioeconomic cooperation across ethnic-religious divisions, contributed to the pace and intensity of the Yugoslav meltdown. Third, the argument explains why the most violent cases of disintegration occurred in areas with high levels of trust, although ethnic polarization gained ...
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The three years period, which began in 2007 with the controversies preceding the election of Turkey‘s eleventh president Abdullah Gül, was critical for Turkish democracy. During these years, some examples of the tensions and intrigues in... more
The three years period, which began in 2007 with the controversies preceding the election of Turkey‘s eleventh president Abdullah Gül, was critical for Turkish democracy. During these years, some examples of the tensions and intrigues in Turkish politics have included massive pro-secular and anti-government rallies, an online military ultimatum to the democratically elected government rooted in (former) Islamist parties, a case heard at the Constitutional Court to outlaw the governing party for ̳anti-secularism‘, fierce battles in the domestic and international media in which the adversaries have presented themselves as the defenders of democracy or of secularism, calls by the Prime Minister to boycott the country‘s largest, mainly prosecular media group, and arrests of former military officers along with pro-secular intellectuals on various charges including conspiracy to topple the government.
Against the backdrop of Arab transitions and the continuing rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP)—which is rooted in moderate Islamism—the Turkish government and its allies have presented the Republic as an example of secular... more
Against the backdrop of Arab transitions and the continuing rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP)—which is rooted in moderate Islamism—the Turkish government and its allies have presented the Republic as an example of secular democracy upheld by a predominantly Muslim population. [3] But Turkish secularism (laiklik) suffers from grave democratic deficits as an authoritarian and interventionist model. [4] Thus, Turkey needs to reform its secularism, and democracy, in order to become a more enviable example. It should also endeavor to draw inspiration from the current democratic enthusiasm of Arab polities as much it tries to inspire them.
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ABSTRACT “Pernicious polarization” – the division of society into mutually distrustful Us versus Them camps in which political identity becomes a social identity – fosters autocratization by incentivizing citizens and political actors... more
ABSTRACT “Pernicious polarization” – the division of society into mutually distrustful Us versus Them camps in which political identity becomes a social identity – fosters autocratization by incentivizing citizens and political actors alike to endorse non-democratic action. An exploratory analysis of new V-Dem data on polarization indeed shows the negative relationship between the level of political polarization and liberal democracy ratings. How can pernicious polarization be avoided or reversed once present? By drawing on an endogenous explanation of polarization, where the decisions and actions of both opposition actors and incumbents contribute to its evolution, we focus on the question of what democratic opposition actors can do to stop or reverse pernicious polarization. Based on insights from examples across the world and deductive theory-building, along with illustrative cases, we offer a typology of potential opposition goals, strategies and tools, and then analyse how these may affect polarization and in turn democratic quality at early and late stages. We identify goals as either generative or preservative, and we argue that “active-depolarizing” and “transformative-repolarizing” strategies are more promising than “passive-depolarizing” and “reciprocal polarizing” strategies to improve a country's resilience to autocratizing pressures. The specific tools employed to pursue these goals and strategies are also crucial, though the effectiveness of available institutional accountability and mobilizational tools will change as the process of polarization advances. The emerging literatıres on opposition strategies to democratize electoral autocracies and to improve the resilience of democracies should incorporate their impact on polarization as a critical intervening variable.
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Abstract:Around the world, democracy is being undermined by elected leaders using polarizing political strategies that divide societies into mutually distrustful camps. The logic of polarization creates incentives for political leaders... more
Abstract:Around the world, democracy is being undermined by elected leaders using polarizing political strategies that divide societies into mutually distrustful camps. The logic of polarization creates incentives for political leaders and voters alike to sacrifice democratic principles rather than risk their side losing power, and it changes the capacity of institutions designed to manage political conflict and sustain democracy. Drawing lessons from experiences around the world, we propose strategies for oppositions to depolarize or repolarize around democracy-building agendas. We further analyze the challenges of “the day after” polarizing incumbents are removed, and how strategic choices to emphasize long-term collective interests over short-term partisan interests can begin to shift the vicious cycle to a virtuous one.
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This article compares the dynamics of polarization in the eleven case studies analyzed in this special issue to draw conclusions about antecedents of severe political and societal polarization, the characteristics and mechanisms of such... more
This article compares the dynamics of polarization in the eleven case studies analyzed in this special issue to draw conclusions about antecedents of severe political and societal polarization, the characteristics and mechanisms of such polarization, and consequences of severe polarization for democracy. We find that the emergence of pernicious polarization (when a society is split into mutually distrustful “Us vs. Them” camps) is not attributable to any specific underlying social or political cleavage nor any particular institutional make-up. Instead, pernicious polarization arises when political entrepreneurs pursue their political objectives by using polarizing strategies, such as mobilizing voters with divisive, demonizing discourse and exploiting existing grievances, and opposing political elites then reciprocate with similarly polarizing tactics or fail to develop effective nonpolarizing responses. We explain how the political construction of polarization around “formative rif...
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Under the Justice and Development Party AKP and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey has become one of the most polarized countries in the world, and has undergone a significant democratic breakdown. This article explains how polarization and... more
Under the Justice and Development Party AKP and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey has become one of the most polarized countries in the world, and has undergone a significant democratic breakdown. This article explains how polarization and democratic breakdown happened, arguing that it was based on the built-in, perverse dynamics of an “authoritarian spiral of polarizing-cum-transformative politics.” Furthermore, I identify ten causal mechanisms that have produced pernicious polarization and democratic erosion. Turkey’s transformation since 2002 is an example of the broader phenomenon of democratic erosion under new elites and dominant groups. The causes and consequences of pernicious polarization are analyzed in terms of four subperiods: 2002–2006, 2007, 2008–2013, and 2014–present. In the end, what began as a potentially reformist politics of polarization-cum-transformation morphed into an autocratic-revolutionary one. During this process, polarization and AKP policies; the politicizat...
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This volume collects and analyzes eleven country case studies of polarized polities that are, or had been, electoral democracies, identifying the common and differing causal mechanisms that lead to different outcomes for democracy when a... more
This volume collects and analyzes eleven country case studies of polarized polities that are, or had been, electoral democracies, identifying the common and differing causal mechanisms that lead to different outcomes for democracy when a society experiences polarization. In this introduction, we discuss our goals for the volume, the comparative logic we apply to the cases, our overall methodological approach, and the concepts that ground the analyses. The goal of this volume is to explore pernicious polarization, i.e., when and how a society divides into mutually distrustful “us vs. them” blocs, which endangers democracy. Accordingly, we discuss the effects of such polarization on democracies, and start building a foundation for remedies. In this introductory article, we highlight and explain the inherently political and relational aspects of polarization in general and pernicious polarization in particular, present the concept of formative rifts, and discuss how opposition strategi...
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As political and societal polarization deepens, democracies are under stress around the world. This article examines the complex relationship and causal direction between democracy and polarization and posits three theoretical... more
As political and societal polarization deepens, democracies are under stress around the world. This article examines the complex relationship and causal direction between democracy and polarization and posits three theoretical possibilities: (1) polarization contributes to democratic backsliding and decay, (2) polarization results from democratic crisis, and (3) polarization contributes to democratic deepening. We argue “politics” is central to polarization and identify as a key feature of the process of polarization the manner in which it simplifies the normal complexity of politics and social relations. Polarization does so by aligning otherwise unrelated divisions, emasculating cross-cutting cleavages, and dividing society and politics into two separate, opposing, and unyielding blocks. As such, it often has pernicious consequences for democracy, emerging as an intended or unintended consequence of political interest–based and purposeful political mobilization. Polarization over ...
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This article argues that a common pattern and set of dynamics characterizes severe political and societal polarization in different contexts around the world, with pernicious consequences for democracy. Moving beyond the conventional... more
This article argues that a common pattern and set of dynamics characterizes severe political and societal polarization in different contexts around the world, with pernicious consequences for democracy. Moving beyond the conventional conceptualization of polarization as ideological distance between political parties and candidates, we offer a conceptualization of polarization highlighting its inherently relational nature and its instrumental political use. Polarization is a process whereby the normal multiplicity of differences in a society increasingly align along a single dimension and people increasingly perceive and describe politics and society in terms of “Us” versus “Them.” The politics and discourse of opposition and the social–psychological intergroup conflict dynamics produced by this alignment are a main source of the risks polarization generates for democracy, although we recognize that it can also produce opportunities for democracy. We argue that contemporary examples ...
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... In order to capture this effect, let me define different kinds of ethnic activities according to the type of relationship that they promote between ethnic and national identity. ... Compatible Defining Characteristic Expressing the... more
... In order to capture this effect, let me define different kinds of ethnic activities according to the type of relationship that they promote between ethnic and national identity. ... Compatible Defining Characteristic Expressing the Rival Definition of National / Sub-national Categories ...
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Research Interests: Comparative Religion, History of Religion, Albanian Studies, Balkan Studies, Nationalism, and 15 moreIslam in Europe, National Identity, Islamic Studies, Balkan Politics, Comparative Secularism, Islam in Turkey, Islam, Modern Turkey, Albanian Nationalism, Minorities in Turkey, Albania, Balkans, Islam and Secularism, Islam In Europe, and De Gruyter
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This article analyzes the discursive-ideational barriers restricting regional cooperation by examining Turkey’s relations with Iraqi Kurds from a critical, theoretical perspective in the context of Turkey’s domestic reforms and its... more
This article analyzes the discursive-ideational barriers restricting regional cooperation by examining Turkey’s relations with Iraqi Kurds from a critical, theoretical perspective in the context of Turkey’s domestic reforms and its relations with the USA and the EU. It is argued that the ethnicity discourse undermines cooperation, insofar as it feeds the perception of rival groups with zero-sum interests. Presenting a simple model, the article argues that replacing the ethnicity discourse with alternative, post-ethnic discourses requires combining alternative discourses with policies that produce positive-sum interests, coordination between groups, and opportunities for joint collective actions. Hence, state capacity to formulate and implement such policies is crucial. Predictions and policy implications are generated accordingly. First, further reconciliation of Turkey’s domestic Kurdish conflict through democratic and administrative reforms, EU integration, and the promotion of na...
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By modelling and analysing Turkey's Kurdish question in light of democratic transition theories, the Scottish Case and recent developments, this article explains the lack of cooperation between the `moderate' Turkish majority and... more
By modelling and analysing Turkey's Kurdish question in light of democratic transition theories, the Scottish Case and recent developments, this article explains the lack of cooperation between the `moderate' Turkish majority and Kurdish actors pursuing peace and European Union membership. It analyses whether there may be more cooperation in the near future and discusses implications for theories of political moderation. A `most different case', Scotland, helps in explaining the Turkish case and in avoiding mono-causal explanations based on cultural stereotypes. Among other factors and unlike the Scottish case, cooperation in the Turkish—Kurdish case is constrained by relations with Iraqi Kurds and the difficulty of identifying the moderates: Kurdish actors moderate in the sense of renouncing violence often make more hard-line political and conceptual claims than violent actors do. Theories need more multifaceted conceptualizations of moderation. The recent electoral suc...
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Do political-Islamic elites need to be democrats for participation in democracy, how do their values compare to secular elites’, and how do their values change through participation and affect democratization itself? A... more
Do political-Islamic elites need to be democrats for participation in democracy, how do their values compare to secular elites’, and how do their values change through participation and affect democratization itself? A comparative-systematic content analysis of three Islamic-conservative and two pro-secular Turkish newspapers over nine years shows that, overall, political-Islamic elites adopt democratic political values. Furthermore, they began to view that liberal-democratic rights and freedoms serve their interests. However, value democratization, and, thus, moderation and democratization, is not a linear and inexorable process automatically resulting from participation or socioeconomic development. It occurs through ruptures such as conflicts with secular actors, and interdependently through the interactions of secular and religious actors. Hence, religious actors’ adoption of more democracy may paradoxically make some secular actors less democratic. The consolidation of pluralis...
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The main goal of this article is to highlight the importance and implications of a debate that is ongoing in Turkey over the meaning, social-political role, and regulation of Turkey's ethnic-cultural diversity, especially that of its... more
The main goal of this article is to highlight the importance and implications of a debate that is ongoing in Turkey over the meaning, social-political role, and regulation of Turkey's ethnic-cultural diversity, especially that of its Kurdish component. By itself, this debate can neither bring about any significant change in the political realm nor have a major influence on the “mainstream” Turkish social-political discourse. Despite significant changes during the last decade or so, this discourse continues to predominantly reflect the diversity-phobic, dominant beliefs and values of Turkish nationalism.
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To better understand the various paths by which polarized societies might overcome or reduce their political divisions, this working paper examines perniciously polarized countries that have successfully depolarized, at least for a time.... more
To better understand the various paths by which polarized societies might overcome or reduce their political divisions, this working paper examines perniciously polarized countries that have successfully depolarized, at least for a time. Through a quantitative analysis of the V-Dem data set, this study identifies 105 episodes from 1900 to 2020 where countries were able to reduce polarization from pernicious levels for at least five years. These 105 episodes represent roughly half of the total episodes of pernicious polarization during the time period, thus indicating a fairly robust capacity of countries to depolarize. If considered in terms of country experiences rather than episodes (because many countries have experienced multiple episodes in a cycle of polarization and depolarization), then the data indicate that two-thirds of the 178 countries for which V-Dem provides polarization data have experienced one or more episodes of pernicious polarization, but only thirty-five countries (20 percent) have failed to experience any depolarization to below-pernicious levels.
Given this apparent capacity among the majority of the world’s countries to depolarize from pernicious levels at least some of the time, this analysis seeks to identify the contexts and sustainability of those experiences and to encourage further research into their causal mechanisms and outcomes for democracies. The analysis offers a preliminary discussion of the potential meaning and normative implications of depolarization as a concept and policy goal. It then uses qualitative analysis to identify patterns in the contexts of various depolarization cases and gauge the sustainability of these trends
Given this apparent capacity among the majority of the world’s countries to depolarize from pernicious levels at least some of the time, this analysis seeks to identify the contexts and sustainability of those experiences and to encourage further research into their causal mechanisms and outcomes for democracies. The analysis offers a preliminary discussion of the potential meaning and normative implications of depolarization as a concept and policy goal. It then uses qualitative analysis to identify patterns in the contexts of various depolarization cases and gauge the sustainability of these trends
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This article discusses what kind of ambiguities inflict the concept of political regime in political sciences and why, argues for a substantive and qualitative definition, and maintains that divisions among opposition actors over the... more
This article discusses what kind of ambiguities inflict the concept of political regime in political sciences and why, argues for a substantive and qualitative definition, and maintains that divisions among opposition actors over the questions of whether regime change is occurring and how to cope with it, which weaken the opposition and democratic resilience, are endogenous products of incremental autocratization processes. It then analyzes these issues in Turkey and argues, first, that such divisions over regime change have been challenging opposition actors during Turkey’s incremental autocratization and discusses how opposition parties try to meet this challenge. Second, based on a substantive-qualitative of regime change focused on explanation rather than a measurement-focused definition, the current state of Turkey’s political regime may more adequately be conceptualized as as “situation” à la Skaaning (2006) rather than a new regime. Against the background of the third wave of autocratization, the concept of political regime has become more important and widely used, for ranking and comparing countries and for interpreting worldwide regime trends. Yet, there is insufficient awareness of the qualitative aspects of the concept, and empirical, operational definitions designed for measurement purposes, which are boosted by advancements in our computational abilities, often substitute for substantive conceptualizations and weaken the explanatory abilities of political sciences. Confusions over the regime concept in the academic and political realms may be reinforcing each other.
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... Cemal, 2003; Taşpınar, 2005). ... 10 For two recent examples, see Taha Parla, Irkçılıktan Mahalleciliğe, Mahallecilikten Milliyetçiliğe (From Racism to Parochialism, from Parochialism to Nationalism), Radikal 2, May 22, 2005, and... more
... Cemal, 2003; Taşpınar, 2005). ... 10 For two recent examples, see Taha Parla, Irkçılıktan Mahalleciliğe, Mahallecilikten Milliyetçiliğe (From Racism to Parochialism, from Parochialism to Nationalism), Radikal 2, May 22, 2005, and Ayşe Kadıoğlu, Milliyetçiliğin İyisi Var mı? (Is ...
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A new politics of constructive polarization may be needed to successfully overcome authoritarian politics, says Professor Somer in a recent interview with FSI Director Michael McFaul.