Tuba Eldem (Gerda Henkel Fellowship, Oct ‘25 – Feb ‘26) will present her research on:

Patrimonial Power, Populist Securitization and Post-Truth Politics: Unraveling the Populist Governance in Turkey

27 November 2025 (Thursday), at 17:30.

Moderated by: Ivelina Masheva

Abstract: This study explains authoritarian populist resilience by examining the long-term survival of Turkey’s AKP government over the past twenty-three years as a critical case. It argues that the durability of Turkey’s competitive authoritarian regime is best understood through the interaction of three mutually reinforcing mechanisms: populist securitization, patrimonial power, and post-truth politics. Building on but extending Gerschewski’s three pillars of authoritarian survival—legitimation, co-optation, and repression—the analysis demonstrates that each pillar assumes a distinctive configuration under populist rule. Legitimation is sustained through plebiscitarian linkages, emotionally charged crisis and identity narratives, and a post-truth epistemic environment shaped by securitization, misinformation and conspiracy frames. Co-optation functions through entrenched patrimonial state–business networks, extensive clientelism, and a pragmatic flexibility that enables the ruling party to abandon old allies and integrate new coalition partners as political conditions evolve. Repression operates primarily through lawfare, the judicialization of political conflict, complemented by calibrated coercive practices that raise the costs of dissent while preserving the appearance of electoral competition. By integrating discursive, material, and epistemic mechanisms into a unified framework, this project seek to offers a comprehensive explanation for how authoritarian populists consolidate power and maintain resilience even under severe adverse conditions