Research and Publications
Publications by Topic
I. Polarization, Depolarization and Democracy
II. Democratic Erosion and Authoritarianism, Democratization and Opposition Strategies
III. Secular and Religious Politics, Secularism, Political Islamism and Democracy
IV. Ethnic Conflict, Nationalism, Politics of Identity, and the Kurdish Question
V. Political Parties
VI. Turkish Studies and Methodology
I. Polarization, Depolarization and Democracy
Books and Edited Journal Volumes
2. Jennifer McCoy and Murat Somer, eds. Polarizing Polities: A Global Threat to Democracy, special volume of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 61(1) (2019)
1. Jennifer McCoy and Murat Somer, eds. Polarization and Democracy: A Janus-Faced Relationship with Pernicious Consequences, special volume of American Behavioral Scientist 62(1) (2018)
Articles, Book Chapters and Reports
15. Murat Somer and Jennifer McCoy, “Affective Polarization and Democratic Backsliding,” in Handbook of Affective Polarization, Mariano Torcal and Eelco Harteveld, eds. (London: Edwar Elgar Publishing, in press)
14. Jennifer McCoy and Murat Somer, “Polarization and Autocratization” in Luca Tomini and Aurel Croissant, eds, Routledge Handbook of Autocratization (London: Routledge, 2024)
13. McCoy, Jennifer, Ben Press, Murat Somer and Özlem Tuncel, “Reducing Pernicious Polarization: A Comparative Historical Analysis of Depolarization,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace working paper, May 2022.
12. Jennifer McCoy and Murat Somer, “Pernicious Polarization and Democratic Resilience in the US: Comparative Lessons,” in Robert C. Lieberman, Suzanne Mettler and Kenneth Roberts, eds. Democratic Resilience: Can the United States Withstand Rising Polarization? (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021)
11. Jennifer McCoy and Murat Somer, “Overcoming Polarization,” Journal of Democracy 32 (1): 6-21 (2021)
10. Jennifer McCoy and Murat Somer. “Political Fragmentation and Polarization: The Impact on Political Parties and Movements,” in András Sajó, Stephen Holmes and Renáta Uitz, eds. Routledge Handbook of Illiberalism (London: Routledge, 2021). Link: [Part 1] [Part 2]
9. Murat Somer, Jennifer McCoy and Russell Evan Luke IV. “Pernicious Polarization, Autocratization and Opposition Strategies,” Democratization (2021) https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2020.1865316
8. Murat Somer, Old and New Polarizations and Failed Democratizations in Turkey,” in Güneş Murat Tezcür, ed. Oxford Handbook of Turkish Politics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020)
7. Murat Somer and Jennifer McCoy, “Transformations through Polarizations and Global Threats to Democracy,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 681 (1): 8-22 (January 2019)
6. Jennifer McCoy and Murat Somer, “Toward a Theory of Pernicious Polarization and How It Harms Democracies: Comparative Evidence and Possible Remedies,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 681 (1): 234-271 (January 2019)
5. Murat Somer, “Turkey: The Slippery Slope from Reformist to Revolutionary Polarization and Democratic Breakdown,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 681 (1): 42-61 (January 2019)
4. Murat Somer and McCoy, Jennifer. “Déjà vu? Polarization and Endangered Democracies in the 21st Century,”American Behavioral Scientist 62 (1): 3-15 (2018)
3. Jennifer McCoy, Tahmina Rahman and Murat Somer.“Polarization and the Global Crisis of Democracy: Common Patterns, Dynamics and Pernicious Consequences for Democratic Polities,” American Behavioral Scientist 62 (1): 16-42 (2018)
2. Murat Somer, “Democratization, Clashing Narratives, and ‘Twin Tolerations’ between Islamic-Conservative and Pro-Secular Actors,” pp. 28-47 in Marlies Casier and Joost Jongerden, eds, Nationalisms and Politics in Turkey: Political Islam, Kemalism and the Kurdish Issue (Routledge, 2010)
1. Murat Somer, “Cascades of Ethnic Polarization: Lessons from Yugoslavia.”Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 573: 127-151. January 2001
II. Democratic Erosion and Authoritarianism, Democratization and Opposition Strategies
24. Murat Somer and Jennifer McCoy, “Affective Polarization and Democratic Backsliding,” in Handbook of Affective Polarization, Mariano Torcal and Eelco Harteveld, eds. (London: Edwar Elgar Publishing, in press)
23. Jennifer McCoy and Murat Somer, “Polarization and Autocratization” in Luca Tomini and Aurel Croissant, eds, Routledge Handbook of Autocratization (London: Routledge, 2024)
22. Murat Somer and Metehan Tekinirk, “Regime Uncertainty during Democratic Erosion and Turkish Opposition Experience,” Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politik-Wissenschaft (German Journal of Comparative Politics) 18: 7-35 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12286-024-00595-x
21. Murat Somer, “2000’li Yıllarda Türkiye’de Parlamenter Muhalefet ve İkilemleri: Normal Siyasetten Olağanüstü Siyasete,” (Parliamentary Opposition in Turkey in the 2000s: from Normal to Extraordinry Politics) Siyasi ve İktisadi Hayatın 100 Yılı, İsmet Akça, Mine Eder ve Bariş Alp Özden, Der., içinde (Istanbul: İBB Kütüphane ve Müzeler Müdürlüğü, 2024.
20. Murat Somer and Alper Yilmaz, “Old Autocracy or Something New?: Conceptualizing and Measuring Democratic Erosion and Overcoming It.” APSA Preprints, December 11, 2023. doi: 10.33774/apsa-2023-sshrp.
19. “Turkey’s 2023 Elections: Successful Autocracy or Failure of Conventional Parties?” SUITS Policy Brief, No. 3, October 2023; Stockholm University of Turkish Studies
18. Rachel Beatty Riedl, Paul Friesen, Jennifer McCoy, Kenneth Roberts and Murat Somer, DRG Center Learning Agenda Opening Up Democratic Spaces Original Research: Summary Report. USAID: July 2023. https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA02166K.pdf
17. Murat Somer and Ali Yaycıoğlu, “Cumhuriyet ve Demokrasi” (Republic and Democracy), pp. 14-49 in Cumhuriyet’in İkinci Yüzyılına Girerken Türkiye: Çalıştay Dizisinden Perspektifler (Turkiye while entering the second century of the republic: perspectives from the workshop). Istanbul: Tüsiad, Turkish Businessmen Association, 2023.
16. Murat Somer, Jennifer McCoy, 7 Lessons from Turkey’s Effort to Beat a Populist Autocrat (Online Exclusive Research Note), Journal of Democracy, May 2023
15. 7 Lessons from Turkey’s Effort to Beat a Populist Autocrat (Online Exclusive Research Note), Journal of Democracy, May 2023 (with Jennifer McCoy)
14. Murat Somer, Jennifer McCoy and Ozlem Tuncel“Toward a New Transition Theory: Opposition Dilemmas and Countering Democratic Erosion.” APSA Preprints, September 27, 2022. doi: 10.33774/apsa-2022-nr4mz.
13. Somer, Murat, Jennifer McCoy and Russell Evan Luke IV. “Pernicious Polarization, Autocratization and Opposition Strategies,” Democratization (2021) https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2020.1865316
12. Jennifer McCoy and Murat Somer, “Pernicious Polarization and Democratic Resilience in the US: Comparative Lessons,” in Robert C. Lieberman, Suzanne Mettler and Kenneth Roberts, eds. Democratic Resilience: Can the United States Withstand Rising Polarization? (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021)
11. “Siyasal Rejim Nedir Ne Değildir?: Kavram Karmaşası Kademeli Otokratikleşmenin İçsel Bir Mekanizması Olabilir mi?”(What is Political Regime and What is It Not? Can Conceptual Confusion be an Endogenous Mechanism of Incremental Autocratization?), Toplum ve Bilim 158: 6-26 (2021) Link: [Part 1] [Part 2]
10. Murat Somer, Seren Selvin Korkmaz and Edgar Şar, Demokrasiye Geçiş İçin İttfak ve Mutabakat Senaryoları (Scenarios of Alliance and Accord for Transition to Democracy), Policy Report, Türkiye Sosyal Ekonomik Siyasal Araştırmalar Vakfı (Social, Economic and Political Research Foundation of Turkey) (Istanbul: Tüses, 2021)
9. Murat Somer, “Turkey: The Slippery Slope from Reformist to Revolutionary Polarization and Democratic Breakdown,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 681 (1): 42-61 (January 2019)
6. Murat Somer “Moderation of Religious and Secular Politics, a Country’s “Centre” and Democratization,” Democratization 21 (2): 244-267 (2014)
5. Murat Somer, “Does It Take Democrats to Democratize?: Lessons From Islamic and Secular Elite Values in Turkey,” Comparative Political Studies 44 (5): 511-545 (May 2011)
4. Murat Somer, “Media Values and Democratization: What Unites and What Divides Religious-Conservative and Pro-Secular Elites,” Turkish Studies 11 (4): 555-577 (December 2010)
3. Murat Somer, “Moderate Islam and Secularist Opposition in Turkey: Implications for the World, Muslims, and Secular Democracy” Third World Quarterly 28 (7): 1271-1289 (October 2007)
2. Somer, Murat. “Demokratlığın Politik Ekonomisi: Inanılır Demokrasi, Düzenleyici Devlet, ve AB’li Küreselleşme.” (The Political Economy of Being A Democrat: Credible Democracy, Regulatory State, and Globalization with the EU). Doğu Batı7 (28): 227-250. August 2004
1. Murat Somer, “Insincere Public Discourse, Trust, and Implications for Democratic Transition The Yugoslav Meltdown Revisited.” Journal for Institutional Innovation, Development and Transition 6, pp. 92-112. December 2002
III. Secular and Religious Politics, Secularism, Political Islamism and Democracy
17. Murat Somer, “Demokratlığın Politik Ekonomisi: Inanılır Demokrasi, Düzenleyici Devlet, ve AB’li Küreselleşme.” (The Political Economy of Being A Democrat: Credible Democracy, Regulatory State, and Globalization with the EU). Doğu Batı7 (28): 227-250. August 2004
16. Murat Somer, “Conquering versus Democratizing the State: Political Islamists and Fourth Wave Democratization in Turkey and Tunisia,” Democratization 24 (6): 1025-1043
15. Murat Somer and Glüpker-Kesebir, Gitta. “Is Islam the Solution? Comparing Turkish Islamic and Secular Thinking toward Ethnic and Religious Minorities.” Journal of Church and State 58 (3): 529- 555 (Summer 2016) (first published online in 2015).
14. Murat Somer. “Moderation of Religious and Secular Politics, a Country’s “Centre” and Democratization,” Democratization 21 (2): 244-267 (2014)
13. Murat Somer, “Is Turkish Secularism Anti-Religious, Reformist, Separationist, Integrationist, or Simply Undemocratic?” Review Essay, Journal of Church and State 55 (3): 585–597 (August 2013)
12. Murat Somer, “Does It Take Democrats to Democratize?: Lessons From Islamic and Secular Elite Values in Turkey,” Comparative Political Studies 44 (5): 511-545 (May 2011)
11. Murat Somer, “Media Values and Democratization: What Unites and What Divides Religious-Conservative and Pro-Secular Elites,” Turkish Studies 11 (4): 555-577 (December 2010)
10. Murat Somer. “Turkish Secularism: Looking Forward and Beyond the West,” pp. 37-54 in Matthew Whiting and Alpaslan Özerdem, eds, Routledge Handbook on Turkish Politics (2019).
9. Murat Somer. “Political Islamists and Conquering versus Democratizing the State: Comparing Turkey and Tunisia and Conceptualizing Democratization,” in Mirjam Künkler and Julia Leininger, eds, Religious Actors in the Fourth Wave of Democratization: Constructive, Obstructive or Destructive? (Forthcoming)
8. Arolda Elbasani and Murat Somer, “Muslim Secularisms in the European Context: Comparing Turkey and Albania,” pp. 171-188 in Global Secularisms in a Post-Secular Age, Michael Rectenwald, Rochelle Almeida, and George Levine, eds. (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2015)
7. Murat Somer, “Whither with Secularism or Just Undemocratic Laiklik? The Evolution and Future of Secularism under the AKP,” pp. 23-49 in Valeria Talbot, ed, The Uncertain Path of the ‘New Turkey,’ (Milan: ISPI, Instituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, 2015)
6. Murat Somer,. “Islamist Political Parties, the Turkish Case and the Future of Muslim Polities,” pp. 41-57 in Quinn Mecham and Julie Chernov Hwang (eds), Strategies and Behavior of Islamist Political Parties: Lessons from Asia and the Middle East (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014)
5. Murat Somer, “The Janus-Faced Relation of Religious Non-State Actors and Human Security: Islamic and Secular Values in Turkey,” pp. 30-47 in James Wellman and Clark Lombardi, eds, Religion and Human Security (Oxford University Press: 2012)
4. Murat Somer and Tol, Gönül. “New Muslim Pluralism and Secular Democracy in Turkey and the EU,” pp. 95-111 in Elizabeth Prugl and Markus Thiel, eds., Diversity in the European Union (New York: Palgrave/Macmillan, 2009)
3. Murat Somer, “Değişen Türkiye’de Kimlik, Laiklik ve Demokrasi,” (Identity, Laicism, and Democracy in Changing Turkey) Siyasi İktisat Söyleşileri, Osman Bankası Arşiv & Araştırma Merkezi, Vol. 6, February 2008.
2. Murat Somer. “Sustainable Democratization and the Roles of the US and the EU: Political Islam and Kurdish Nationalism in Turkey,” Turkish Policy Quarterly 5 (3): 89-108 (Fall 2006)”
1. Murat Somer, “Moderate Islam and Secularist Opposition in Turkey: Implications for the World, Muslims, and Secular Democracy” Third World Quarterly 28 (7): 1271-1289 (October 2007)
IV. Ethnic Conflict, Nationalism, Politics of Identity, and the Kurdish Question
Books and Edited Journal Volumes
3. Murat Somer, Return to Point Zero: The Turkish-Kurdish Question and How Politics and Ideas (Re-)Make Empires, Nations and States. (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2022) Reviews: The Middle East Journal; Turkish Studies; Diversity, Violence and Recognition Blog
2. Murat Somer, Sosyal Demokratlar ve Türkiye’de Kürt Sorunu (Social Democrats and the Kurdish Conflict in Turkey) (Ankara: Bencekitap, 2016)
1. Murat Somer, Milada Dönüş: Ulus-Devletten Devlet-Ulusa Türk ve Kürt Meselesinin Üç İkilemi (Istanbul: Koç University Press, 2015; 2. Print, 2016). Reviews and Press Coverage: European Review of International Studies, Modus Operandi, Turkish Studies, Akşam, Cumhuriyet (Emre Kongar), Milliyet, Radikal Kitap, T24
Articles, Book Chapters and Reports
17. Murat Somer, Review of “Nation-Building in Turkey and Morocco” by Senem Aslan, International Journal of Middle East Studies 49 (4): 774-776 (2017)
16. Somer, Murat. “Barış Süreci ve Kürt Meselesi’nde Kimlik ve Dış Politika: Riskler ve Fırsatlar”(The Peace Process and Identity and Foreign Policy in the Kurdish Question) Ortadoğu Analiz 5 (57): 46–53 (2013)
15. Murat Somer and Liaras, Evangelos G. “Turkey’s New Kurdish Opening: Religious versus Secular Values” Middle East Policy 17 (2): 152-165 (Summer 2010)
14. Murat Somer, “Why Aren’t Kurds Like the Scots and the Turks Like the Brits? Moderation and Democracy in the Kurdish Question,” Cooperation and Conflict 43 (2): 220-249 (June 2008) (Please also see Erratum)
13. Murat Somer. “Kürt Meselesi’nde Dünü ve Bugünü Barış İçin Yorumlamak” (Interpreting the Past and Future of the Kurdish Question for Peace), pp. 15-81 in Konda Araştırma (Ed.), Kürt Meselesi’nde Algı ve Beklentiler (Perceptions and Expectations in the Kurdish Question) (Istanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2011)
12. Murat Somer. “Toward A Non-Standard Story: The Kurdish Question and the Headscarf, Nationalism, and Iraq,” in Ayşe Kadıoğlu and Fuat Keyman, eds, Symbiotic Antagonisms in Turkey: Sources, Discourses and Changing Nature of Turkish, Kurdish, and Islamic Nationalisms, pp. 253-288 (Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press, 2011)
11. Murat Somer, “Sustainable Democratization and the Roles of the US and the EU: Political Islam and Kurdish Nationalism in Turkey,” Turkish Policy Quarterly 5 (3): 89-108 (Fall 2006)”
10. Murat Somer, “Looking Objectively at Rebels: The Political Economy of Violence, Kurdish Nationalism, and the PKK.” Review of Primitive Rebels or Revolutionary Modernizers? by Paul White. Turkish Studies5 (2), pp. 162-165. Summer 2004
9. Murat Somer, “Resurgence and Remaking of Identity: Civil Beliefs, Domestic and External Dynamics, and the Turkish Mainstream Discourse on Kurds.” Comparative Political Studies38 (6): 591-622 (August 2005)
8. Murat Somer. “Defensive- vs. Liberal-Nationalist Perspectives on Diversity and Kurdish Conflict: Europeanization, the Internal Debate, and Türkiyelilik” New Perspectives on Turkey 32: 73-91. (2005)
7. Murat Somer, “Failures of the Discourse of Ethnicity: Turkey, Kurds, and the Emerging Iraq,” Security Dialogue 36 (1): 109-128 (March 2005)
6. Murat Somer, “Turkey’s Kurdish Conflict: Changing Context and Domestic and Regional Implications.” Middle East Journal58 (2): 235-253. Spring 2004
5. Murat Somer, “Ethnic Kurds, Endogenous Identities, and Turkey’s Democratization and Integration with Europe,” Global Review of Ethnopolitics1 (4): 74-93. June 2002
4. Murat Somer, “Defensive- and Liberal Nationalisms, the Kurdish Question and Democratization” pp. 103-135 in E. Fuat Keyman, ed., Remaking Turkey: Globalization, Alternative Modernities, and Democracy(Oxford: Lexington Books, 2007)
3. Murat Somer, “Ethnic Kurds, Rival and Compatible Definitions of Identities, and Turkey’s Integration with the EU,” pp. 331-349 in Armand Clesse and Seyfi Tashan, eds., Turkey and the European Union: 2004 and beyond (Dutch University Press, 2004)
2. Murat Somer, “Ethnic and Regional Conflict,” pp. 173-196 in World at Risk: A Global Issues Sourcebook. New York: CQ Press: May 2002. (Selected “Outstanding Academic Title” for 2002 by Choice magazine, revised edition published in 2009)
1. Murat Somer, “Collective Action or Madness?: Explaining Group Identities and Violence.” Review of Path to Collective Madness: A Study in Social Order and Political Pathology, by Dipak K. Gupta. Journal of Socio-Economics 31 (3): 318-322. September 2002
V. Political Parties
2. Sinan Toygar Baykan and Murat Somer, “Politics of Notables versus National Machine: Social, Political and State Transformations, Party Organizations and Clientelism during AKP Governments,” European Journal of Turkish Studies 34:1-29 (2022)
1. Jennifer McCoy and Murat Somer. “Political Fragmentation and Polarization: The Impact on Political Parties and Movements,” in András Sajó, Stephen Holmes and Renáta Uitz, eds. Routledge Handbook of Illiberalism (London: Routledge, Forthcoming). Link: [Part 1] [Part 2]
VI. Turkish Studies and Methodology
1. Somer, Murat. “Theory-Consuming or Theory-Producing?: Studying Turkey as a Theory-Developing Critical Case ,” Turkish Studies 15 (4): 571-588 (2014)
Phd dissertation
Somer, Murat. “Diversity vs. Unity: Causes and Dynamics of Ethnic Polarization.”
Advisor: Timur Kuran