Evren Balta
Biographic Data
| ID | 174900 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Evren Balta |
| GIVEN NAMES | Evren |
| FAMILY NAME | Balta |
| SIGNATURE | BALTA E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Özyeğin University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6364-4426 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 148 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Imagined Majorities: Perceived Group Size and Population Replacement Beliefs in Turkey
Population‐replacement beliefs are often treated as an intensified form of demographic misperception. This article instead argues that they comprise three distinct layers: perceptions of the current migrant population size, expectations of future growth and the attribution of deliberate political agency. Using an original nationally representative survey in Turkey ( N = 1136), we test whether these layers form a single attitude or operate indepen…
Paradox of optimism: Opposition coordination against autocratic incumbents in Turkey’s 2019 and 2023 elections
In the 2019 local and 2023 general elections, Turkey’s opposition parties joined forces in pursuit of a common objective: to oust autocratic incumbents and democratize the political system. While they achieved noteworthy successes in 2019, replicating these gains in the 2023 presidential and parliamentary elections proved elusive. This study reveals that coordinating opposition efforts becomes more challenging during general elections, particular…
The Trump Effect on Global Autocratization: Theory and Evidence from Israel and Türkiye
How do middle powers act? Turkey’s foreign policy and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
How do middle powers respond to complex international challenges while balancing external commitments and domestic interests? This article uses Turkey, specifically it policy towards the invasion of Ukraine, as a case study to explore this question, focusing on two key axes: 1) alliance cohesion, which refers to the degree of unity and commitment among alliance members in responding to shared external threats and 2) domestic interest, which refer…
Electoral pressure, reputational risks, and coalition politics: How Established Parties Respond to the Rise of Anti-Immigrant Parties
The rise of anti-immigrant parties has reshaped global politics, forcing mainstream parties to recalibrate their strategies. This study examines how Turkish political parties responded to the emergence of the Victory Party (Zafer Partisi) in 2021, which placed immigration at the center of political debate. Drawing on 1,089 parliamentary group speeches (2011–2023) and elite interviews with key party figures, we identified three key factors shaping…
Leaders’ experience and the transition from populism to dictatorship
Debating voter defection in Turkey
This study examines patterns of voter defection from Turkey’s incumbent AKP amid major economic and democratic decline. As in other electoral autocracies, defectors constitute a small but politically significant group in Turkey, where the opposition’s ability to secure a transition from authoritarianism depends on reducing the incumbent’s vote share. Based on survey data gathered in November 2021 and February 2022, we find that while the high lev…
Populist radical right beyond Europe: The case of Islamic nativism in Turkey
Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) is one of the longest ruling among contemporary populist radical right parties (PRR). For nearly two decades, the AKP has shown tremendous success in achieving electoral dominance and political control. This article argues that AKP’s success lies in its ability to reconfigure the issue salience in Turkish politics by bringing the secular-conservative cleavage into the center of political competition. H…
Collective Discussion: Movement and Carceral Spatiality in the Pandemic
Various measures of mobility restrictions were introduced since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This collective discussion examines them in relation to six different carceral techniques that govern movement: citizenship, nativism, colonialism, infrastructure, gender, and borders. We investigate how these spatializing techniques of carcerality have been modified and strengthened in the pandemic and their implications for how we conceptualiz…
Populist attitudes and conspiratorial thinking
What happens to the anti-establishment sentiments of pro-incumbent voters for a populist force that is in government and thus controls the political system? This article examines this question utilizing the case of Turkey, a country in which a populist force has been in power for more than a decade. By analyzing populist attitudes among a nationally representative sample, we demonstrate that while the voters of the incumbent populist party (AKP) …
Peace Processes and the Integration of Pro-Government Militias: The Case of Village Guards in Turkey
Militia groups have only recently started to attract scholarly attention in the literature on internal conflicts. This attention is mostly focused on either the causes of their emergence or their functions and performance during the conflict. The role of militia groups in post-conflict processes, however, has not been adequately addressed. This article intends to fill this gap by analyzing the case of village guards, a type of pro-government mili…
War and peace in the age of corona: An analysis of support for repressive state policies in divided societies
Unlike various natural disasters that some studies have highlighted as potential contributors to peace, the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic is neither short-term nor regionally confined. Thus, rather than invoking a compassionate response, the pandemic is likely to aggravate pre-existing divisions and create an environment that accentuates survival over compassion. Building on a large probability survey data gathered in May 2020 in Turkey, …
Defeating Populists: The Case of 2019 Istanbul Elections
How can populist competitive authoritarian regimes be defeated through elections? In this article, we focus on the 2019 municipal campaign strategy of the opposition Istanbul candidate Ekrem Imamoglu as a case study of a successful challenge to a populist competitive authoritarian regime. We argue that such regimes may be prone to defeat when their opponents use what we call an 'inverted populist' strategy. This strategy involves three key elemen…
Turkey's Foreign Policy: Opportunities and Constraints in a New Era
Turkey's Foreign Policy:Opportunities and Constraints in a New Era Evren Balta (bio) and Soli Özel (bio) writing in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the soviet Union and the reshuffling of regional and global alliances, Malik Mufti took note of how Turkish political elites confronted this new world. He wrote, "those responsible for determining its foreign policy—motivated by considerations of fear, honor and profit—are casting their eye…
Civil War and Democratization: A Micro‐Level Analysis
Objective In this study we draw on the conflict between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Turkey to explore how exposure to violence can engender support for democracy at the individual level. Methods We rely on two nationwide representative surveys carried out in Turkey and estimate a series of ordered logistic and logistic regression models. Results We find that exposure to violence during civil war is a significant predictor of embracing …
When elites polarize over polarization: Framing the polarization debate in Turkey – Retracted
An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the 'Save PDF' action button
When elites polarize over polarization: Framing the polarization debate in Turkey
This article aims to explore the views of the Turkish elite on the state of polarization in Turkey. By identifying four political frames—namely, harmony, continuity/decline, conspiracy, and conflict—that selected Turkish political and civil society elites use in discussing the phenomenon of polarization in the country through their contributions to a workshop and in-depth qualitative interviews, the article finds that there is a considerable degr…
Explaining the micro dynamics of the populist cleavage in the ‘new Turkey’
Over the last decade, the literature on populism has flourished as it has sought to account for the causes, definitions, and consequences of the significant support and prolonged political success of populist leaders and parties. However, the political and emotional reception of populist performance is still an under-researched subject and research on populism mostly remains at the macro level focusing on the policies and discourses of the populi…
When elites polarize over polarization: Framing the polarization debate in Turkey – Retracted
This article aims to explore the views of the Turkish elite on the state of polarization in Turkey. By identifying four political frames—namely, harmony, continuity/decline, conspiracy, and conflict—that selected Turkish political and civil society elites use in discussing the phenomenon of polarization in the country through their contributions to a workshop and in-depth qualitative interviews, the article finds that there is a considerable degr…
Born in the U.S.A: Citizenship acquisition and transnational mothering in Turkey
This article explores the practice of giving birth in the U.S. for the purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for the newborn children, among upper and upper-middle class mothers who otherwise are permanently located in Turkey. Focusing on their motivations, anxieties and practices, we situate our analysis with respect to discussions of intensive mothering, transnational motherhood and multi-layered meanings of citizenship. We suggest that the mot…
Senem Aydın-Düzgit and Nathalie Tocci. Turkey and the European Union. London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015, xiv+242 pages
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Class and Passports: Transnational Strategies of Distinction in Turkey
This article analyses the process whereby members of new classes in Turkey mobilize their resources so that their children receive US citizenship at birth. Following the actors' self-perceptions and motivations, we argue that US citizenship acquisition is a new capital accumulation strategy, aimed to forestall against risks in intergenerational transmission of class privileges. With this article, we aim to contribute to cultural class studies in …
Strategic citizens of America: Transnational Inequalities and Transformation of Citizenship
This article analyses the process whereby 'natural' citizens of one country mobilize their resources so that their children receive by birthright, the citizenship of a rich liberal democracy. Utilizing the case of Turkish upper classes, who give birth in the USA in order to benefit from the jus soli principle, we trace the emergence of new inequalities at the intersection of multiple citizenship regimes. We show that, by mobilizing resources in m…
Strategic citizens of America: Transnational Inequalities and Transformation of Citizenship
This article analyses the process whereby 'natural' citizens of one country mobilize their resources so that their children receive by birthright, the citizenship of a rich liberal democracy. Utilizing the case of Turkish upper classes, who give birth in the USA in order to benefit from the jus soli principle, we trace the emergence of new inequalities at the intersection of multiple citizenship regimes. We show that, by mobilizing resources in m…
Populist attitudes and conspiratorial thinking
What happens to the anti-establishment sentiments of pro-incumbent voters for a populist force that is in government and thus controls the political system? This article examines this question utilizing the case of Turkey, a country in which a populist force has been in power for more than a decade. By analyzing populist attitudes among a nationally representative sample, we demonstrate that while the voters of the incumbent populist party (AKP) …
Defeating Populists: The Case of 2019 Istanbul Elections
How can populist competitive authoritarian regimes be defeated through elections? In this article, we focus on the 2019 municipal campaign strategy of the opposition Istanbul candidate Ekrem Imamoglu as a case study of a successful challenge to a populist competitive authoritarian regime. We argue that such regimes may be prone to defeat when their opponents use what we call an 'inverted populist' strategy. This strategy involves three key elemen…
When elites polarize over polarization: Framing the polarization debate in Turkey
This article aims to explore the views of the Turkish elite on the state of polarization in Turkey. By identifying four political frames—namely, harmony, continuity/decline, conspiracy, and conflict—that selected Turkish political and civil society elites use in discussing the phenomenon of polarization in the country through their contributions to a workshop and in-depth qualitative interviews, the article finds that there is a considerable degr…
Explaining the micro dynamics of the populist cleavage in the ‘new Turkey’
Over the last decade, the literature on populism has flourished as it has sought to account for the causes, definitions, and consequences of the significant support and prolonged political success of populist leaders and parties. However, the political and emotional reception of populist performance is still an under-researched subject and research on populism mostly remains at the macro level focusing on the policies and discourses of the populi…
Class and Passports: Transnational Strategies of Distinction in Turkey
This article analyses the process whereby members of new classes in Turkey mobilize their resources so that their children receive US citizenship at birth. Following the actors' self-perceptions and motivations, we argue that US citizenship acquisition is a new capital accumulation strategy, aimed to forestall against risks in intergenerational transmission of class privileges. With this article, we aim to contribute to cultural class studies in …
Populist radical right beyond Europe: The case of Islamic nativism in Turkey
Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) is one of the longest ruling among contemporary populist radical right parties (PRR). For nearly two decades, the AKP has shown tremendous success in achieving electoral dominance and political control. This article argues that AKP’s success lies in its ability to reconfigure the issue salience in Turkish politics by bringing the secular-conservative cleavage into the center of political competition. H…
Collective Discussion: Movement and Carceral Spatiality in the Pandemic
Various measures of mobility restrictions were introduced since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This collective discussion examines them in relation to six different carceral techniques that govern movement: citizenship, nativism, colonialism, infrastructure, gender, and borders. We investigate how these spatializing techniques of carcerality have been modified and strengthened in the pandemic and their implications for how we conceptualiz…
When elites polarize over polarization: Framing the polarization debate in Turkey – Retracted
This article aims to explore the views of the Turkish elite on the state of polarization in Turkey. By identifying four political frames—namely, harmony, continuity/decline, conspiracy, and conflict—that selected Turkish political and civil society elites use in discussing the phenomenon of polarization in the country through their contributions to a workshop and in-depth qualitative interviews, the article finds that there is a considerable degr…
Electoral pressure, reputational risks, and coalition politics: How Established Parties Respond to the Rise of Anti-Immigrant Parties
The rise of anti-immigrant parties has reshaped global politics, forcing mainstream parties to recalibrate their strategies. This study examines how Turkish political parties responded to the emergence of the Victory Party (Zafer Partisi) in 2021, which placed immigration at the center of political debate. Drawing on 1,089 parliamentary group speeches (2011–2023) and elite interviews with key party figures, we identified three key factors shaping…
Debating voter defection in Turkey
This study examines patterns of voter defection from Turkey’s incumbent AKP amid major economic and democratic decline. As in other electoral autocracies, defectors constitute a small but politically significant group in Turkey, where the opposition’s ability to secure a transition from authoritarianism depends on reducing the incumbent’s vote share. Based on survey data gathered in November 2021 and February 2022, we find that while the high lev…
Leaders’ experience and the transition from populism to dictatorship
Peace Processes and the Integration of Pro-Government Militias: The Case of Village Guards in Turkey
Militia groups have only recently started to attract scholarly attention in the literature on internal conflicts. This attention is mostly focused on either the causes of their emergence or their functions and performance during the conflict. The role of militia groups in post-conflict processes, however, has not been adequately addressed. This article intends to fill this gap by analyzing the case of village guards, a type of pro-government mili…
War and peace in the age of corona: An analysis of support for repressive state policies in divided societies
Unlike various natural disasters that some studies have highlighted as potential contributors to peace, the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic is neither short-term nor regionally confined. Thus, rather than invoking a compassionate response, the pandemic is likely to aggravate pre-existing divisions and create an environment that accentuates survival over compassion. Building on a large probability survey data gathered in May 2020 in Turkey, …
Civil War and Democratization: A Micro‐Level Analysis
Objective In this study we draw on the conflict between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Turkey to explore how exposure to violence can engender support for democracy at the individual level. Methods We rely on two nationwide representative surveys carried out in Turkey and estimate a series of ordered logistic and logistic regression models. Results We find that exposure to violence during civil war is a significant predictor of embracing …
Senem Aydın-Düzgit and Nathalie Tocci. Turkey and the European Union. London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015, xiv+242 pages
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Class and Passports: Transnational Strategies of Distinction in Turkey
This article analyses the process whereby members of new classes in Turkey mobilize their resources so that their children receive US citizenship at birth. Following the actors' self-perceptions and motivations, we argue that US citizenship acquisition is a new capital accumulation strategy, aimed to forestall against risks in intergenerational transmission of class privileges. With this article, we aim to contribute to cultural class studies in …
Strategic citizens of America: Transnational Inequalities and Transformation of Citizenship
This article analyses the process whereby 'natural' citizens of one country mobilize their resources so that their children receive by birthright, the citizenship of a rich liberal democracy. Utilizing the case of Turkish upper classes, who give birth in the USA in order to benefit from the jus soli principle, we trace the emergence of new inequalities at the intersection of multiple citizenship regimes. We show that, by mobilizing resources in m…
Born in the U.S.A: Citizenship acquisition and transnational mothering in Turkey
This article explores the practice of giving birth in the U.S. for the purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for the newborn children, among upper and upper-middle class mothers who otherwise are permanently located in Turkey. Focusing on their motivations, anxieties and practices, we situate our analysis with respect to discussions of intensive mothering, transnational motherhood and multi-layered meanings of citizenship. We suggest that the mot…
Explaining the micro dynamics of the populist cleavage in the ‘new Turkey’
Over the last decade, the literature on populism has flourished as it has sought to account for the causes, definitions, and consequences of the significant support and prolonged political success of populist leaders and parties. However, the political and emotional reception of populist performance is still an under-researched subject and research on populism mostly remains at the macro level focusing on the policies and discourses of the populi…
When elites polarize over polarization: Framing the polarization debate in Turkey – Retracted
This article aims to explore the views of the Turkish elite on the state of polarization in Turkey. By identifying four political frames—namely, harmony, continuity/decline, conspiracy, and conflict—that selected Turkish political and civil society elites use in discussing the phenomenon of polarization in the country through their contributions to a workshop and in-depth qualitative interviews, the article finds that there is a considerable degr…
When elites polarize over polarization: Framing the polarization debate in Turkey – Retracted
An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the 'Save PDF' action button
When elites polarize over polarization: Framing the polarization debate in Turkey
This article aims to explore the views of the Turkish elite on the state of polarization in Turkey. By identifying four political frames—namely, harmony, continuity/decline, conspiracy, and conflict—that selected Turkish political and civil society elites use in discussing the phenomenon of polarization in the country through their contributions to a workshop and in-depth qualitative interviews, the article finds that there is a considerable degr…
Civil War and Democratization: A Micro‐Level Analysis
Objective In this study we draw on the conflict between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Turkey to explore how exposure to violence can engender support for democracy at the individual level. Methods We rely on two nationwide representative surveys carried out in Turkey and estimate a series of ordered logistic and logistic regression models. Results We find that exposure to violence during civil war is a significant predictor of embracing …
War and peace in the age of corona: An analysis of support for repressive state policies in divided societies
Unlike various natural disasters that some studies have highlighted as potential contributors to peace, the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic is neither short-term nor regionally confined. Thus, rather than invoking a compassionate response, the pandemic is likely to aggravate pre-existing divisions and create an environment that accentuates survival over compassion. Building on a large probability survey data gathered in May 2020 in Turkey, …
Defeating Populists: The Case of 2019 Istanbul Elections
How can populist competitive authoritarian regimes be defeated through elections? In this article, we focus on the 2019 municipal campaign strategy of the opposition Istanbul candidate Ekrem Imamoglu as a case study of a successful challenge to a populist competitive authoritarian regime. We argue that such regimes may be prone to defeat when their opponents use what we call an 'inverted populist' strategy. This strategy involves three key elemen…
Turkey's Foreign Policy: Opportunities and Constraints in a New Era
Turkey's Foreign Policy:Opportunities and Constraints in a New Era Evren Balta (bio) and Soli Özel (bio) writing in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the soviet Union and the reshuffling of regional and global alliances, Malik Mufti took note of how Turkish political elites confronted this new world. He wrote, "those responsible for determining its foreign policy—motivated by considerations of fear, honor and profit—are casting their eye…
Populist attitudes and conspiratorial thinking
What happens to the anti-establishment sentiments of pro-incumbent voters for a populist force that is in government and thus controls the political system? This article examines this question utilizing the case of Turkey, a country in which a populist force has been in power for more than a decade. By analyzing populist attitudes among a nationally representative sample, we demonstrate that while the voters of the incumbent populist party (AKP) …
Peace Processes and the Integration of Pro-Government Militias: The Case of Village Guards in Turkey
Militia groups have only recently started to attract scholarly attention in the literature on internal conflicts. This attention is mostly focused on either the causes of their emergence or their functions and performance during the conflict. The role of militia groups in post-conflict processes, however, has not been adequately addressed. This article intends to fill this gap by analyzing the case of village guards, a type of pro-government mili…
Debating voter defection in Turkey
This study examines patterns of voter defection from Turkey’s incumbent AKP amid major economic and democratic decline. As in other electoral autocracies, defectors constitute a small but politically significant group in Turkey, where the opposition’s ability to secure a transition from authoritarianism depends on reducing the incumbent’s vote share. Based on survey data gathered in November 2021 and February 2022, we find that while the high lev…
Populist radical right beyond Europe: The case of Islamic nativism in Turkey
Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) is one of the longest ruling among contemporary populist radical right parties (PRR). For nearly two decades, the AKP has shown tremendous success in achieving electoral dominance and political control. This article argues that AKP’s success lies in its ability to reconfigure the issue salience in Turkish politics by bringing the secular-conservative cleavage into the center of political competition. H…
Collective Discussion: Movement and Carceral Spatiality in the Pandemic
Various measures of mobility restrictions were introduced since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This collective discussion examines them in relation to six different carceral techniques that govern movement: citizenship, nativism, colonialism, infrastructure, gender, and borders. We investigate how these spatializing techniques of carcerality have been modified and strengthened in the pandemic and their implications for how we conceptualiz…
Leaders’ experience and the transition from populism to dictatorship
How do middle powers act? Turkey’s foreign policy and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
How do middle powers respond to complex international challenges while balancing external commitments and domestic interests? This article uses Turkey, specifically it policy towards the invasion of Ukraine, as a case study to explore this question, focusing on two key axes: 1) alliance cohesion, which refers to the degree of unity and commitment among alliance members in responding to shared external threats and 2) domestic interest, which refer…
Electoral pressure, reputational risks, and coalition politics: How Established Parties Respond to the Rise of Anti-Immigrant Parties
The rise of anti-immigrant parties has reshaped global politics, forcing mainstream parties to recalibrate their strategies. This study examines how Turkish political parties responded to the emergence of the Victory Party (Zafer Partisi) in 2021, which placed immigration at the center of political debate. Drawing on 1,089 parliamentary group speeches (2011–2023) and elite interviews with key party figures, we identified three key factors shaping…
Imagined Majorities: Perceived Group Size and Population Replacement Beliefs in Turkey
Population‐replacement beliefs are often treated as an intensified form of demographic misperception. This article instead argues that they comprise three distinct layers: perceptions of the current migrant population size, expectations of future growth and the attribution of deliberate political agency. Using an original nationally representative survey in Turkey ( N = 1136), we test whether these layers form a single attitude or operate indepen…
Paradox of optimism: Opposition coordination against autocratic incumbents in Turkey’s 2019 and 2023 elections
In the 2019 local and 2023 general elections, Turkey’s opposition parties joined forces in pursuit of a common objective: to oust autocratic incumbents and democratize the political system. While they achieved noteworthy successes in 2019, replicating these gains in the 2023 presidential and parliamentary elections proved elusive. This study reveals that coordinating opposition efforts becomes more challenging during general elections, particular…
The Trump Effect on Global Autocratization: Theory and Evidence from Israel and Türkiye
Political science (20 works) · Politics (19 works) · Law (18 works) · Turkey's Politics and Society (17 works) · Political economy (16 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Law (14 works) · Populism, Right-Wing Movements (12 works) · Economics (9 works) · Democracy (7 works)