M. Tahir KilavuzI am an assistant professor of Political Science and International Relations at Marmara University, Istanbul.
My research concentrates on the causes of regime stability and change as well as how different regimes impact institutions and political behavior. More specifically, I examine the factors behind authoritarian persistence and democratization and how they shape the institutional decisions and the masses. In my book project, I focus on authoritarian persistence and change in the MENA by examining the behavior of autocrats and opposition actors. I explain the institutional strategies of the MENA leaders to sustain their regimes’ survival and the impact of opposition challenges through regional analysis and the case studies of Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia. My broader research interests include survey analysis, religion and politics, political behavior, coups d’état, mixed methods research, and experimental design, both in the MENA and in the cross-regional setting. My works have been published in journals such as American Political Science Review, Journal of Peace Research, Democratization, and Political Studies among others. I received my PhD in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame and served as a postdoctoral fellow (2019-20) and a resident fellow (2023-24) in the Middle East Initiative Program (MEI) at the Harvard Kennedy School. I have also studied at Sciences Po (Paris) and have research or training experience in Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Turkey. |