Berk Esen is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Sabancı University, Turkey. After receiving his Bachelor of Science degrees in Political Science and Economics at Vanderbilt University, he completed Master of Arts programs in political science (Sabancı University), integrated social sciences (Jacobs University Bremen) and government (Cornell University). He received his PhD in Government from Cornell University in 2015 and was also a visiting researcher at New York University, Columbia University, Sabancı University and Torcuato di Tella University. Before joining the department, he served as Assistant Professor and Vice Chair at the department of International Relations at Bilkent University. His research and teaching interests include the political economy of development, party politics and authoritarian regimes with a focus on Latin America and the Middle East. His research has been funded by the Science and Technology Institute of Turkey TUBITAK and published in top political science journals such as Party Politics, Journal of Democracy, Third World Quarterly, PS: Political Science & Politics, South East European Society and Politics, Journal of Near East and Balkan Studies, Mediterranean Politics, Turkish Studies, Review of Middle East Studies, and Middle East Review of International Affairs. Berk has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Sakıp Sabancı International Research Award for his work on democratic backsliding in Turkey and Hungary and the Turkish Science Academy Young Scientist Award (BAGEP).
