Berk Esen
Assistant Profesor of International Relations, Bilkent University
Research Interests
Political Parties and Social Movements in the Global South, Authoritarian Regimes, Civil-military Relations, Latin American Politics, State-building
Education
2011-2015, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Ph.D. in Government
Fields of Study: Comparative Politics and International Relations
Committee: Kenneth Roberts, Sidney Tarrow, Nic van de Walle
2007-2011 Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
M.A. in Government
2005-2009 Jacobs University Bremen, Bremen, Germany
M.A. in Integrated Social Sciences
2004-2006 Sabancı University, Istanbul, Turkey
M.A. in Political Science
2000-2004 Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
B.S. Political Science, Economics, Western Civilization (triple major)
Research Papers
2017 “Building a Competitive Authoritarian Regime: State–Business Relations in the AKP’s Turkey” (with Sebnem Gumuscu) Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies
2017 “A Small Yes for Presidentialism: The Turkish Constitutional Referendum of April
2017” (with Sebnem Gumuscu) South European Society and Politics, 22 (3): 303-326
2017 “Turkey: How the Coup Failed” (with Sebnem Gumuscu) Journal of Democracy, 28 (1): 59-73
2016 “Rising Competitive Authoritarianism in Turkey” (with Sebnem Gumuscu) in Third World Quarterly 37 (9): 1581-1606
2014 “Nation-Building, Party-Strength, and Regime Consolidation: Kemalism in Comparative Perspective.” Turkish Studies 15 (4): 600-620
2014 “Turkey’s Republican People’s Party: Politics of Opposition under a Dominant Party System.” Turkish Studies (with Sinan Ciddi). 15 (3): 419-441
2011 "Turkey's 2011 Elections: An Emerging Dominant Party System?" Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 15, No. 3 (with Sinan Ciddi).
Related Work Experience
Assistant Professor Bilkent University, Department of International Relations, Ankara, Turkey, September 2015 – Present
Post-doctoral Fellow Sabancı University, Istanbul Turkey, January - August 2015
Teaching Assistant Cornell University, September 2008–May 2014
Teaching Assistant Sabancı University, September 2004–May 2005
Achievements and Scholarships
2017 Starting R&D Projects Funding Program (3001), TUBITAK, Turkey
2012-3 Sage Fellowship, Cornell University
2012 Tinker Foundation Grant for Field Research
2011 Graduate School Field Research Travel Grant, Cornell University
2010 Michele Sicca Research Grant, for Preliminary Field Research
2009 Mario Einaudi Center International Research Travel Grant
2008-14 Graduate Student Fellowship, Cornell University
2007-8 Sage Fellowship, Cornell University
2004-5 Teaching Assistant Fellowship, Sabancı University
2001 Third Place in Inter-College Debate Tournament, Vanderbilt University
2000-4 Merit-based Scholarship, Vanderbilt University
1993 Ranked 1st in nationwide middle school examination in Turkey among 1.5 million students
Skills and Qualifications
Turkish, Native speaker
English, Near-native proficiency in speaking, writing, and reading
Spanish, Advanced level of proficiency in reading; Intermediate skills in speaking, writing
German, Elementary level of proficiency