Welcome

I am an Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the International Studies Program at Luther College, Iowa. I received my Political Science Ph.D. from Florida International University. My research focuses on populism, polarization, and opposition in the context of the global decline of democracy.

My first book The Authoritarian Divide: Populism, Propaganda, and Polarization is published with the Kellogg Institute Democracy and Development Series of the University of Notre Dame Press. The book introduces the concept of affective leader polarization and studies countries where the political actors polarize over personally dominant presidents and prime ministers. To explain the causes of affective leader polarization, I analyze the televised speeches of Erdoğan, Chávez, and Correa. Through the content analysis of Muhtar Toplantıları, Aló Presidente, and Enlace Ciudadano, the book unpacks the dynamics of populist inclusion and exclusion toward the members of the in-group and the out-group. Finally, the book considers the role of the opposition actors in reinforcing and mitigating affective leader polarization.

The Authoritarian Divide primarily focuses on Turkey under Erdoğan, Venezuela under Chávez, and Ecuador under Correa, as well as those leaders’ opponents. Nevertheless, the book’s theoretical framework and empirical findings apply to other contexts, such as India, Brazil, Israel, and the United States, where populist leaders, such as Modi, Bolsonaro, Netanyahu, and Trump, affectively polarize the political spectrum between their hardcore supporters and staunch opponents. You can listen to Turkey Book Talk and Veneco podcast episodes to learn more about the book in the Turkish and Venezuelan contexts. The book was translated into Spanish and published by Pescadito Editoriales in Quito. You can read the first chapter for free here.

On this website, you can find my latest CV, scholarly publications, teaching portfolio, video and podcast appearances, public commentary, and photos from Turkey and Latin America.

For media commentary, guest speaker invitations, or any other questions, you can send an email to selcor01@luther.edu or a direct message on Twitter/X @orcunselcuk.