Why do Authoritarian Regimes Have Antagonistic Relationships with Academia? Turkey as a Case Study
Forms of “competitive authoritarianism” have emerged in recent decades where populist politicians exploit democratic institutions to corrupt the rule of law and amass growing power. Existing research has largely focused on “arenas of contestation” where authority is directly challenged, including elections and law-making. This study explores the antagonistic relationship between populist regimes and academic institutions. It focuses specifically on Turkey, where the Erdogan regime has exerted increasing control over the education system, instituted purges, and eroded rights. Using an inductive method involving ten in-depth, semi-structured interviews with academics who live or have lived in Turkey under the Erdogan regime, this study to the combination of not only the intellectual nature of academic institutions but also their bureaucratic institutional nature as sites for political patronage that results in frequent clashes between academics and forces of repressive political power.