One of the most exciting components of our DEC university democratic erosion course is the collaborations that occur across faculty and students of different universities.
We are excited to share a recent episode from Dr. Albana Dwonch’s podcast, “Turkey: Reversing from Democratic Erosion or Sliding Towards Further Authoritarianism?” Dr. Dwonch is teaching our course this semester, and for this podcast episode, she interviewed another course instructor, Dr. Berk Esen, Associate Professor of Political Science at Sabanci University in Istanbul. They are both using the podcast as part of their curriculum this semester.
What determines whether a society pushes back at democratic erosion or slides towards further authoritarianism? In the podcast episode, Dr. Dwonch and Dr. Esen discuss democratic backsliding and resilience in Turkey, including comparisons between Turkey’s Gezi Park protests in 2013 and Albania’s ongoing Flamingo protests in 2026.
Listen to the full episode on Spotify
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