About me

Hello! I am a Lecturer and Research Data Services Specialist at the RDS Department and Affiliate Faculty with the Department of Political Science at Georgia State University (GSU).

My research examines political parties, elections, and democratic backsliding, with a particular focus on opposition cooperation in electoral authoritarian regimes. More broadly, I study how political actors adapt to increasingly uneven electoral environments and the implications of these strategies for democratic competition and regime change.

My work combines original data collection with quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate questions in comparative politics. I am currently working on a book manuscript that explains when and why opposition parties form electoral coalitions under electoral authoritarian rule and how these alliances shape prospects for democratic change.

My research on the Turkish electoral coalitions received the Best Paper Award at ISA-South and Best Fieldwork Award – Honorable Mention from APSA’s Democracy and Autocracy section. My research has been supported by the William A. Steiger Fund for Legislative Studies of the APSA Centennial Grant, Institute for Human Studies, Craigie Fellowship, and GSU Library Dissertation Award.

My research has been published in the Perspectives on Politics, Party Politics, QMMR, Journal of Peace Research, and Journal of Civil Society. My published articles, book chapters, and working papers can be found on my publications page and Google Scholar. Access my most current CV here.

I received my Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science at GSU in Atlanta, Georgia. I received my BA and MA from Political Science and International Relations Department at Bogazici University.

You can contact me at otuncelgurlek1 [at] gsu [dot] edu.