MURAT SOMER

Ozyegin University, Politics and International Relations, Faculty Member

Koç University, International Relations and Political Science, Faculty Member

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Murat Somer is Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Özyeğin University Istanbul.
Address: Istanbul, Turkey: https://faculty.ozyegin.edu.tr/muratsomer/

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“Regime Uncertainty during Democratic Erosion and Turkish Opposition Experience,”

Z Vgl Polit Wiss (German Journal of Comparative Politics) , 2024

Which peculiar uncertainties does democratic erosion (DE) pose to opposition actors? How have the... 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.

Interview on my book Return to Point Zero with Elisabeth King and Cyrıs Samii

My book (Return to Point Zero: The Turkish-Kurdish Question and How Politics and Ideas (Re-)make ... more

Murat Somer ile Kutuplaşmanın Tezahürleri Üzerine #1 (with Murat Somer, on the Consequences of Polarization, #1)

Daktilo 1984, 2020

Kutuplaşma, Türkiye de dahil kutuplaşmanın emarelerini taşıyan her ülke için önemini yitirmeyen b... 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.

MURAT SOMER

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