Merve Mayakon

Merve Mayakon is a Master of Arts candidate in Political Science and International Relations at Bogazici University. She is broadly interested in the politics of authoritarian regimes, democratic backsliding, and democratization. Her master’s research examines the divergent paths of post-authoritarian regimes to understand whether democratic resilience represents a durable institutional outcome or an exception. Specifically, she investigates why some post-authoritarian regimes with longer histories of democratization revert to authoritarianism, while other post-authoritarian regimes with more recent histories of democratization navigate threats of backsliding and demonstrate greater resilience.

Prior to her graduate studies, Merve gained hands-on experience at nongovernmental organizations focused on democratic governance, transparency, integrity, and accountability in the public sector. Notably, as a Researcher at Transparency International Turkey, she contributed to research on public procurement, asset and interest declaration, and political finance to advance anti-corruption policy and promote effective, inclusive, and accountable institutions across the Western Balkans and Turkey.

Merve holds a Bachelor of Arts with High Honors in Political Science and International Relations from Bogazici University. During her undergraduate studies, she served as a Research and Teaching Assistant in the fields of comparative politics, political economy, world economic history, and international human rights law.