Democracy Workshop

Event Title: Electoral Competition, Party Strategies and Government-Opposition Relations: Turkey and Comparative Perspectives Workshop

Event Principal Investigator: Prof. Dr. Deniz Sert

Venue: Özyeğin University, Çekmeköy Campus, Istanbul (in person)

Event Dates: 20 March 2027

Paper Submission Deadline: 20 December 2026

Notification of Results: 20 January 2027

Topic of the Event

Türkiye, with its multiparty political life, high voter turnout and changing electoral institutions, is an important case for the study of party competition. In particular, the transition to the presidential system, the institutionalization of electoral alliances and changes to the electoral threshold have reshaped political parties’ strategies and government-opposition relations. Although there is a substantial body of scholarship on these issues in Türkiye, these strands of research need to be discussed more systematically within a comparative politics framework. This workshop examines how party competition in Türkiye has taken shape and how it has changed over time. Specifically, it focuses on the effects of institutional changes in the electoral system, parties’ ideological positions, electoral and alliance strategies, organizational structures and voter behavior on party competition. The relationship between local politics and national party competition, and the role of niche parties in the party system, will also be among the workshop’s focal points. 
The workshop will discuss how these dynamics shape the strategies of ruling and opposition parties, under what conditions they intensify or constrain party competition, and how the Turkish experience can be explained through the theoretical approaches prominent in the comparative politics literature.

Aims of the Event

The workshop aims to bring together researchers working on elections, political parties and party competition in Türkiye to discuss current theoretical and empirical work. It seeks to assess the contributions of the Turkish case to the comparative politics literature, develop new research questions and foster academic collaboration among researchers. It also aims to identify hypotheses that are prominent in the comparative literature but have not yet been tested in the Turkish case, and to encourage data sharing and methodological exchange. 

Scope of the Event

The workshop covers theoretical and empirical work on party competition and electoral strategies, electoral systems, party alliances, government-opposition relations, party organizations, political leadership and voter behavior.
The two-day, in-person event will feature 16-20 papers selected by the Scientific Committee through double-blind review, two keynote sessions, a methods workshop and a roundtable. Each paper will receive written and oral feedback from a pre-assigned discussant. The total number of participants is expected to be 30.

Note: Papers will be selected through double-blind peer review.