My research lies at the intersection of comparative politics, international relations, and public policy. I examine how political institutions, public policies, and social forces shape democracy, governance, religious freedom, human rights, migration, and societal development. Through comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives, I seek to understand how governments respond to pluralistic societies, how institutions promote or constrain inclusion, and how public policies affect the well-being of individuals and communities. My research is organized around four related agendas: state policies toward religious minorities; religion, secularism, and democracy; religion and public goods provision; and migration, refugee resettlement, and community integration. Together, these areas explore how political institutions and public policies shape opportunities, rights, and outcomes for individuals and communities navigating social, religious, and cultural diversity.
State Policies toward Religious Minorities
In my first research agenda, I examine how the international context shapes state policies toward religious minorities. My book, Alien Citizens: State and Religious Minorities in Turkey and France (Cambridge University Press, 2020), examines how and when international pressure reshapes institutions of state-religion relations in Turkey and France. In this book, I compare Turkey and France concerning the impact of international context on their treatment of religious minorities, Christians in Turkey, and Muslims in France. My article in Comparative Politics (2014), entitled “International Pressure, Domestic Politics, and Dynamics of Religious Freedom: Evidence from Turkey,” uses an in-depth analysis of Turkish state policies toward Christian minorities to show how domestic actors strategically and normatively use international pressure to change state policies in the domestic realm.
Religion, Secularism, and Democracy
In my other research agenda, I examine how political institutions and ideas shape governance outcomes, democratic resilience, and public policy choices in diverse societies. Through this research, I address the relationship between religion, secularism, and democracy in the Middle East. I seek to explore the impact of Islamic actors on regime change by examining their interactions with the international context, domestic socio-structural factors, and political institutions. In my article published in Political Science Quarterly (2014), I demonstrate the impact of “timing” in democratic consolidation. This article, entitled “Critical Junctures as Catalysts in Democratic Consolidation: The Case of Turkey,” examines the complex relationship between Islam, secularism, and democratic consolidation in Turkey in the 2000s. My article, published in the Muslim World Journal of Human Rights, “Beyond Reactionary Politics: Islamism, Democracy, and Authoritarianism in Turkey and the Muslim World,” analyzes how anti-Westernism and anti-secularism influence the political behaviors of Islamists and prevent them from developing democratic practices. My co-authored work with Turan Kayaoglu and Etga Ugur, “The Empty Quest for Muslim Democracy,” published in the Journal of Democracy, examines why long-standing hopes for the rise of Muslim democracy have gone unrealized. My article, “From Honourable to Villainous: Political Competition and Sectarianisation in Turkey,” published in Religion, State, & Society, examines how political considerations influence the creation of religious discourses and interpretations among rival religious actors. In another article, published in Uluslararası İlişkiler/International Relations (2016), “Ideology and Foreign Policy: A Comparative Analysis of Kemalist (1930-1939) and Islamist (2011-2015) Foreign Policies in Turkey,” I examine the conditions under which domestic ideological shifts produce ideology-based foreign policy. Finally, I am working on a book manuscript titled Two Tales of Islamism: The Rise and Fall of Muslim Democracy. This manuscript analyzes the conditions under which Islamists pursue democratic or authoritarian policies.
Religion and Public Goods Provision
In my other research agenda, in collaboration with Carolyn Warner, Christopher Hale, and Adam Cohen, I examine how religions, in general, and Catholicism and Islam, in particular, contribute to public goods provision. We conducted research using experiments and case studies of mosque and parish communities in four European countries. Based on this project, I co-authored a book, Generating Generosity in Catholicism and Islam: Beliefs, Institutions and Public Goods Provision (Cambridge University Press, 2018). I also co-authored two articles, “Religion and Public Goods Provision: Experimental and Interview Evidence from Catholicism and Islam in Europe” (Comparative Politics, 2015), and “Microfoundations of Religion and Public Goods Provision: Belief, Belonging and Giving in Catholicism and Islam” (Politics and Religion, 2015). This project examined the historical, theological, and faith-based traditions of giving in Catholicism and Islam and analyzed the impact of social and political factors on giving among Catholics and Muslims.
Migration, Refugee Resettlement, and Community Integration
In my fourth research agenda, I examine migration, refugee resettlement, and community integration. Building on my long-standing interest in human rights, minorities, and state responses to diversity, I explore how political environments, public policies, and local institutions shape the experiences of refugees and immigrants as they navigate settlement and integration. Working with colleagues in the United States and Europe, I explore how political environments, public policies, and local institutions shape refugees’ and immigrants’ experiences as they navigate settlement and integration. This research particularly focuses on the relationship between newcomers and the communities that receive them. In addition to examining refugee experiences, I investigate how host communities respond to demographic change, cultural diversity, and refugee resettlement initiatives. This work seeks to understand the conditions under which communities develop inclusive and supportive responses, the challenges that emerge during integration processes, and the ways public policies, local institutions, and civic organizations influence outcomes for both refugees and host communities.
Interdisciplinary Collaborations on Public Policy and Human Development
In addition to these research questions, I collaborate interdisciplinarily on the relationship between institutions and human development, especially on pressing issues such as peace, education, and economic development. In an article, “Ethnic Conflict and Gender Inequality in Education: The Case of Turkey” (Turkish Studies, 2018), my co-authors Jody Neathery-Castro and Selin Akyuz and I examine the role of ethnic conflict in gender inequality in education in Turkey. In a multi-authored article (with Ian Pelletier, Leif Lundmark, Rachel Gardner, and Gina Scott Ligon), we examine ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) recruitment strategies and suggest counter-messaging instruments. This work, titled “Why ISIS’s Message Resonates: Leveraging Islam, Sociopolitical Catalysts, and Adaptive Messaging,” was published in Studies in Conflict and Terrorism (2016). Sefa Secen and I compared state policies toward universities in the wake of authoritarian governance in our “The War on Universities: Illiberal Tactics in Turkey, Hungary, and the United States” in Perspectives on Politics (2026)
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Across these research agendas, my work combines comparative politics, international relations, and public policy analysis to examine how institutions respond to diversity, conflict, migration, and societal change. While my scholarship often focuses on specific regional contexts, it is motivated by broader questions about governance, democratic resilience, human rights, public goods provision, and the role of public policy in addressing complex social challenges.
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Selected Publications
Books:
Alien Citizens: State and Religious Minorities in Turkey and France, Cambridge University Press, November 2020
Generating Generosity: Beliefs, Institutions and Public Goods Provision in Catholicism and Islam, Cambridge University Press, 2018, (with Carolyn Warner, Christopher Hale and Adam Cohen)
Articles:
“The War on Universities: Illiberal Tactics in Turkey, Hungary, and the United States,” Perspectives on Politics, Online First View, Forthcoming in 2026 (with Sefa Secen).
“The Empty Quest for Muslim Democracy,” Journal of Democracy, Volume 37 No 1, January 2026, pp. 134-149 (with Turan Kayaoglu and Etga Ugur)
“Beyond Reactionary Politics: Islamism, Democracy, and Authoritarianism in Turkey and the Muslim World,” Muslim World Journal of Human Rights, Forthcoming in 2026
“From Honourable to Villainous: Political Competition and Sectarianisation in Turkey,” Religion, State, & Society, Volume 49 No 2 (2021), pp. 93-108
“Ethnic Conflict and Gender Inequality in Education: The Case of Turkey” Turkish Studies, Volume 19 No 3 (2018), pp. 400-421 (with Jody Neathery-Castro and Selin Akyuz)
“Ideology and Foreign Policy: A Comparative Analysis of Kemalist (1930-1939) and Islamist (2011-2015) Foreign Policies in Turkey,” Uluslararası İlişkiler/International Relations, Volume 13 No 52 (2016), pp. 67-88.
“Why ISIS’ Message Resonates: Leveraging Islam, Socio-Political Messaging and Adaptive Messaging,” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Volume 39 Issue 10 (July 2016), pp. 871-899, (with Ian Pelletier, Leif Lundmark, Rachel Gardner, Gina Scott Ligon).
“Micro-Foundations of Religion and Public Goods Provision: Belief, Belonging and Giving Catholicism and Islam,” Politics and Religion, Volume 8 No 4 (December 2015), pp. 718-744 (with Carolyn Warner).
“Religion and Public Goods Provision: Experimental and Interview Evidence from Catholicism and Islam in Europe,” Comparative Politics, Volume 47 No 2 (January 2015), pp. 189-209 (with Carolyn Warner, Christopher Hale, Adam Cohen and Kathryn Johnson).
“International Pressure, Domestic Politics and Dynamics of Religious Freedom: Evidence from Turkey,” Comparative Politics, Volume 46 No 2 (January 2014), pp. 127-145.
“Critical Junctures as Catalysts in Democratic Consolidation: The Case of Turkey,” Political Science Quarterly, Volume 129 No 2 (Summer 2014), pp. 293-318.