About

I am a PhD Candidate in Political Science at the Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY), specializing in comparative politics (major field) and American politics (minor field). My research examines how opposition parties can challenge and ultimately defeat autocrats, with a particular focus on the role of subnational politics in competitive authoritarian regimes. To advance this agenda, my dissertation contributes an original cross-national dataset of opposition-led subnational executive offices in competitive authoritarian regimes (1990–2022) and combines this with comparative casework in Mexico and Turkey. My work shows that local victories can foster opposition prospects at the national level, but their impact depends on whether subnational leaders can leverage their offices and overcome authoritarian obstruction, and whether internal party dynamics allow viable leaders to rise to national prominence.

My research has been published in Democratization, and I have a manuscript under review that develops the concept of opposition pockets to explain variation in how local governments influence national politics in authoritarian settings. I am also working on two additional manuscript projects: Gatekeepers of Change, which investigates how internal party rules shape opposition success, drawing on evidence from Mexico and Turkey, and Wake-up Call, which examines how subnational victories can provoke authoritarian retrenchment through cross-national analysis and a case study of Turkey. In addition, I plan to revise my dissertation into a book manuscript.

I have taught courses on Introduction to American Politics, Introduction to Comparative Politics, and Middle East Politics at Baruch College and Hunter College, CUNY. I earned my BA in International Trade from Boğaziçi University, Turkey.