Graduate Students

Graduate Student Directory

• PhD Program 

  Kaan Afsar	aekremk1@binghamton.edu	Environmental security, cybersecurity and public opinion/policy	LinkedIn
  Muuhammet Akkus	makkus1@binghamton.edu	Comparative Politics, Religion and Politics, Political Violence, Religious Movements, State Capacity, Public Opinion	Website
  Hazal Aktas	haktas@binghamton.edu	International Conflicts, Terrorism, State minority policies, Political Violence
  Rael Almonte Reyes	ralmont4@binghamton.edu	Election Systems, Democratic Deconsolidation, Political Economy, Political Behavior, Latin America & the Carribean	LinkedIn X(formerly Twitter) Website
  Shambralyn Baker	sbaker13@binghamton.edu	International environmental politics, international institutions and law, biodiversity politics
  Kathleen Bannon	kbannon1@binghamton.edu	American Foreign Policy, International Relations, Bureaucratic Politics	LinkedIn
  Onsel Gurel Bayrali	obayral1@binghamton.edu	Federalism, Global Health, Political Economy, African Politics	Website
  Ekin Cengiz	ocengiz1@binghamton.edu
  Hyoungrohk Chu	hchu13@binghamton.edu	Comparative Politics, Political Behavior, Autocratization, Political Idelogies, Polarization	X(formerly Twitter)
  Tyler Clarke	tclarke3@binghamton.edu	Congressional Behavior, Elections & Campaigns, Representation, Voting Behavior, American Politics	Website
  Shawn Donahue	sdonahu1@binghamton.edu
  Furkan Emer	femer1@binghamton.edu	International Relations, Civil-Military Relations	LinkedIn
  Viktorya Erdogu	verdogu@binghamton.edu	Human Rights, Authoritarian Regimes, Domestic Politics in IR, Legitimation Strategies	Website
  Yusuf Evirgen	yevirge1@binghamton.edu	Contentious Politics, State Repression, Human Rights, Coups	Website
  Andrew Foote	afoote1@binghamton.edu
  Alice Hong	yhong33@binghamton.edu	Protest and State Repression, Social Media and Political Violence,Surveillance, Digital Repression, NGOs.
  Redwanul Hoq	rhoq@binghamton.edu	Civil Society Organizations and Government, Democratization, Comparative Politics	LinkedIn
  Oguzhan Irguren	oirgure1@binghamton.edu	Domestic Politics & IR, Foreign Policy, Socialization
  Hyesung Jang	hjang41@binghamton.edu
  Abdinasir Jimale	ajimale1@binghamton.edu	Civil wars, rebel governance, terrorism, political violence, and African politics
  Muhammet Furkan Karakaya	mkaraka1@binghamton.edu
  Hadis Karatashi	hkaratashi@binghamton.edu	Conflict, human rights, and comparative government structures	LinkedIn
  Enzo Jeson Li	eli19@binghamton.edu	Social Movements, Civil War, Rebel Alliances	LinkedIn
  Mary Lind	mlind@binghamton.edu	Technology/Media in politics, Huhman Rights & Human Rights measurement, International Human Rights laws/norms/enforcement, Domestic Politics in International  Relations	LinkedIn
  Ezgi Muftuoglu	emuftuo1@binghamton.edu
  Raphaela M. Oliveira	roliveira@binghamton.edu	Democracy, Social Rights, Latin America, Authoritarianism.	LinkedIn
  Anton Onishchenko	aonishchenko@binghamton.edu	Authoritarianism, institutional transformations, democratic transition	LinkedIn
  Jongho Park	jpark374@binghamton.edu
  Alexander Perdue	aperdue2@binghamton.edu	European Party Politics, Political Ideologies
  Almira Sadykova	asadyko1@binghamton.edu
  Kaan Sener	ksener1@binghamton.edu
  Moyan Shi	mshi12@binghamton.edu	International conflicts, authoritarian regimes, state violence, terrorism
  Roberta Villaca	robertavillaca@binghamton.edu	Political and Criminal Violence, Latin America	LinkedIn
  Oner Yigit	oyigit1@binghamton.edu	Ethnic Politics, State Minority Politics, Ethnice Conflict, Minority Rights, Nation Building.	Website
  TianYi Zhao	tzhao19@binghamton.edu

• MA Program

  Dana Buralkiyeva	dburalkiyeva@binghamton.edu	Human Rights, Decolonization, Freedom of Expression, Cybersecurity	LinkedIn
  Sean Collery	scollea1@binghamton.edu	American Politics, Elections, Immigration and Demographics.	LinkedIn
  Kaya Foster	kfoster@binghamton.edu	Contentious Politics and Human Rights	LinkedIn
  Hudai Sencan	hsencan@binghamton.edu
  Vibeka Just	vjust@binghamton.edu	American Party Politics, Campaigns and Elections, Polarization	LinkedIn

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Student Excellence Award Winners

• Student Excellence Awards
  • Michael Catalano (Research 2023)
  • Tara Riggs (Teaching 2023)
  • Mert Can Bayar (Teaching 2022)
  • Esol Cho (Teaching 2022)
  • Roya Izadidastgerdi (Teaching, 2021)
  • Christine Sylvester (Teaching, 2020)
  • Marc Davignon (Teaching, 2020)
  • Allison Bugenis (Teaching, 2019)
  • Jeremy Berkowitz (Teaching, 2018)
  • Mert Moral (Research, 2017)
  • Halil Ozen (Research, 2016)
  • Scott Boddery (Research, 2015)
  • Graig Klein (Research, 2015)
  • Sheryl Symons (Teaching, 2015)
  • Ben Farrer (Research, 2014)
  • Josh Zingher (Research, 2014)
  • Chad Clay (Research, 2012)
  • Ian Farrell (Teaching, 2011)

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Student Publications

• Graduate Student Publications

  Akcinaroglu, S., & Evirgen, Y. (2025). Ripe moments for terror attacks: Opportunity benefits–reputation  tradeoff. Conflict Management and Peace Science, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/07388942251317110

  Yigit, Ö. (2025). Shifts in Religious Instrumentalization: Friday Sermons and Ethnic Conflict in Turkey. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/13537113.2025.2458572

  Bayrali, O. G., & Jimale, A. (2025). COVID-19 Pandemic in Somalia, South Africa and Zimbabwe: Why do Leaders Love COVID-19 Precautions?. In COVID-19 and Public Policy (Vol. 33, pp. 177-197). Emerald Publishing Limited.

  Heller, W., Muftuoglu, E., & Rosenberg, D. (2023). The institutional underpinnings of policymaking in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. In O. Shvetsova (Ed.), Government responses to COVID-19 pandemic: Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Palgrave Macmillan.

  Zhao, T. (2023). Center-regional political risk sharing in the COVID-19 public health crisis: Nigeria and South Africa. In O. Shvetsova (Ed.), Government responses to COVID-19 pandemic:andemic: Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Palgrave Macmillan.

  Bayrali, O. (2023). Pick your poison: Political expediencies, economic necessities, and COVID-19 response in Malaysia and Indonesia. In O. Shvetsova (Ed.), Government responses to COVID-19 pandemic:andemic: Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Palgrave Macmillan.

  Bayar, M. C., & Seyis, D. (2023). Populist responses to COVID-19: Turkey and Israel as cases of pro-science populism and the United States and Brazil as examples of science-skeptic populism. In O. Shvetsova (Ed.), Government responses to COVID-19 pandemic: Between expediency and inequality. Palgrave Macmillan.

  Chu, H. (2023). The Visegrad populist leaders’ responses to COVID-19 pandemic. In O. Shvetsova (Ed.), Government responses to COVID-19 pandemic: andemic: Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Palgrave Macmillan.pp/ 177-196.

  Catalano, M., & Chan, A. (2023). Common law systems and COVID-19 policy response: Protective public health policy in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. In O. Shvetsova (Ed.), Government responses to COVID-19 pandemic: andemic: Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Palgrave Macmillan.

  Hyoungrohk Chu. 2023. “The Visegrad Populist Leaders’ Responses to COVID-19 Pandemic” In: Shvetosva Olga (Ed.) Government Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 177-196.

  Akcinaroglu, S., & Shi, M. (2023). Exploring the Impact of Cryptocurrency on Terrorism.          Terrorism and Political Violence, 1–25. 

  Cingranelli, D., Mark, S., & Sadykova DuMond, A. (2023). Democracy, Capacity, and the Implementation of Laws Protecting Human Rights. Laws, 12(1), 6.

  
  Ye, H. (2023). Delayed Cooperation: Political Systems, Elections, and the Outcomes of Trade Negotiations. Review of International Political Economy.

  
  Pashayan, A., Kehlenbach, E., Ye, H., Mueller, G., & Willis, C. (2023). The Realities Facing Graduate Students: Before, During, and After the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic. PS: Political Science & Politics, 56(3), 391-397.

  
  Sasmi, D. T., & Shi, M. (2023). Southeast Asian Leaders’ Political Orientation Towards the Environmental Policy Outcome. Asian Journal of Comparative Politics.

  
  Munir, H., Catalano, M., & Martinek, W. (Forthcoming). Judicial Decision Making on Lower Federal Courts. In M. Fix & M. Montgomery (Eds.), Research Handbook of Judicial Politics. Edward Elgar Publishing.

  
  Catalano, M., & Chan, A. (2023). Common Law Systems and COVID-19 Policy response: Protective Public Health Policy in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. In 

  
  O. Shvetsova (Ed.), Government Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic: Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Palgrave MacMillan.

  
  Catalano, M. A. (2022). Ex Ante and Ex Post Control Over Courts in the US States: Court Curbing and Political Party Influence. Justice System Journal, 43(4), 503-523.

  
  Catalano, M. (2023). Can the US Constitution Handle Political Parties? In D. Klein &

  J. Smith (Eds.), The US Constitution in Five Minutes. Equinox Publishing Home.

  
  Shvetsova, O., Zhirnov, A., Adeel, A. B., Bayar, M. C., Bayrali, O. G., Catalano, M., Catalano, O., Chu, H., Giannelli, F., Muftuoglu, E., Rosenberg, D., Seyis, D., Skopyk, B., VanDusky-Allen, J., & Zhao, T. (2022). Protective Policy Index, a Global Dataset of Origins and Stringency of COVID-19 Mitigation Policies. Scientific Data, 9(319).

  
  Shvetsova, O., Zhirnov, A., Giannelli, F., Catalano, M., & Catalano, O. (2022). Can Correlation Between Governor's Party and COVID-19 Morbidity Be Explained by the Differences in COVID-19 Mitigation Policies in the States? American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 62(6), E381-E383.

  
  VanDusky-Allen, J. A., Utych, S. M., & Catalano, M. (2022). Partisanship, Policy, and Americans’ Evaluations of State-Level COVID-19 Policies Prior to the 2020 Election. Political Research Quarterly.. 2022 Jun;75(2):479-496.

  
  Shvetsova, O., Zhirnov, A., Giannelli, F., Catalano, M., & Catalano, O. (2022). Governor's Party, Policies, and COVID-19 Outcomes: Further Evidence of an Effect. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 62(3), 433-437.

  
  Seyis, D., & Heller, W. B. (2021). Voter Support for Anti-Immigrant Populist Parties: The Effect of Economic Pessimism and "Out-Group" Immigration. Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy, 2(3), 429-451.

  
  Best, R., & Seyis, D. (2021). How Do Voters Perceive Ideological Congruence? The Effects of Winning and Losing under Different Electoral Rules. Electoral Studies, 69.

  
  Naushirvanov, T., Rosenberg, D., Sawyer, P.S., & Seyis, D. (2022). How populists fuel polarization and fail their response to COVID-19: An empirical

  analysis. Frontiers in Political Science.

  
  Asadzade, P., & Izadi, R. (April-June 2022.). The Reputational Cost of Military Aggression: Evidence from the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine. Research and Politics. 1-7

  
  Izadi, R. (2022). State Security or Exploitation. A Theory of Military Involvement in the Economy. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 66(4-6), 729-754.

  
  Bennett, A., & Seyis, D. (2021). The Online Market's Invisible Hand: Internet Media and Rising Populism. Political Studies. 71(3), 655-675.

  
  Mark, B. S., Ye, H.-J., Foote, A., & Crippin, T. (2021). It’s a Hard-Knock Life: Child Labor Practices and Compliance with IMF Agreements. Social Sciences, 10(5), 171.

  
  Shvetsova, O., VanDusky-Allen, J., Zhirnov, A., Adeel, A. B., Catalano, M., Catalano, O., Gianelli, F., 

  Muftuoglu, E., Rosenberg, D., Sezgin, M. H., & Zhao, T. (2021). Federal Institutions and Strategic Policy Responses to COVID-19 Pandemic. Frontiers Political Science - Elections and Representation.

  
  Shvetsova, O., Zhirnov, A., VanDusky-Allen, J., Adeel, A. B., Catalano, M., Catalano, O., Giannelli, F., Muftuoglu, E., Riggs, T., Sezgin, M. H., Tahir, N., & Zhao, T. (2020). Institutional Origins of Protective COVID-19 Public Health Policy Responses: Informational and Authority Redundancies and Policy Stringency. Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy, 1(4), 585-613.

  
  Adeel, A. B., Catalano, M., Catalano, O., Gibson, G., Muftuoglu, E., Riggs, T., Sezgin, M. H., Shvetsova, O., Tahir, N., VanDusky-Allen, J., Zhao, T., & Zhirnov, A. (2020). COVID-19 Policy Response and the Rise of the Sub-National Governments. Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de Politiques, 46(4), 565-584. 

  
  Walz, M., & Foote, A. (2020). Keeping the Left at Bay: Delegate Selection System Choice in US Democratic Nominations. Electoral Studies, 67.

  
  Seyis, D., & Munir, H. Judiciary Under Attack: Populists in Government and the Independence of the Judiciary. In K. Hawkins, E. Hawkins, N. Wiesehomeier, L. Littvay, & A. Chryssogelos (Eds.), The Ideational Approach to Populism: Consequences and Mitigation. Cambridge University Press. 

  
  Benjamin, G., & Catalano, M. A. (2020). New York State’s Multi Party System. In R. Davis (Ed.), The "Other" Parties: Minor Political Parties in Contemporary American Politics. University Press of Kansas.

  
  Mark, B. S. Program Lending by the IMF in Human Rights Research: Lessons for Policymakers. In D. Cingranelli & M. Filippov (Eds.), Under contract at UPenn Press.

  
  Akcinaroglu, S., & Tokdemir, E. (2018). To Instill Fear or Love: Terror Groups and Strategy of Building Reputation. Conflict Management and Peace Science, 35(4).

  
  Moral, M., & Zhirnov, A. (2018). Issue Voting as a Constrained Choice Problem.

  American Journal of Political Science, 62(2), 280-295.

  
  Ozen, H. E. (2018). Egypt’s 2011-2012 Parliamentary Elections: Voting for Religious vs. Secular Democracy? Mediterranean Politics, 23(4), 453-178.

  
  Tokdemir, E., & Mark, B. S. (2018). When Killers Become Victims: Political Use of Force, Human Rights, and Strategic Target Selection. International Interactions, 44(2).

  
  Moral, M. (2017). The Bipolar Voter: On the Effects of Actual and Perceived Party Polarization on Voter Turnout in European Multiparty Democracies. Political Behavior, 39(4), 935–965.

  
  Moral, M., & Tokdemir, E. (2017). Justices 'en Garde': Ideological Determinants of the Dissolution of Anti-Establishment Parties. International Political Science Review, 38(3), 264-80.

  
  Tokdemir, E. (2017). Winning Hearts and Minds (!): The Dilemma of Foreign Aid in Anti-Americanism. Journal of Peace Research, 54(6). Forthcoming.

  
  Wang, Z., & Youn, H. (2017). Repress or Respect? Precarious Leadership, Poor Economy and Labor Protection. Human Rights Review, 18(1), 21-43.

  
  Klein, G. R., & Tokdemir, E. (2016). Domestic Diversion: Selective Targeting of Minority Out-Groups. Conflict Management and Peace Science, 36(1).

  
  Moral, M. (2016). The Passive-Aggressive Voter: The Calculus of Casting an Invalid Vote in European Democracies. Political Research Quarterly, 69(4), 732-45.

  
  Tokdemir, E., & Akcinaroglu, S. (2016). Reputation of Terror Groups Dataset: Measuring Popularity of Terror Groups. Journal of Peace Research, 53(2), 268-277.

  Zhirnov, A. (2016). Electoral Coordination in India: The Role of Costly Campaign Communication. India Review, 15(4), 359-378.

  
  Zhirnov, A. (2016). Campaigns, Information, and Coordinated Voting in Multi-Party Elections under Plurality Rule. Electoral Studies, 41, 190-201.

  
  Wang, Z., & Youn, H. (2016). Locating the External Source of Enforceability: Alliances, Bilateral Investment Treaties, and Foreign Direct Investment. Social Science Quarterly, 99(1), 80-96.

  
  Best, R. E., & Zhirnov, A. (2015). Perils and Pitfalls of Ignoring Disproportionality’s Behavioral Component. Electoral Studies, 40, 256-267.

  
  Garmendia Madariaga, A., & Ozen, H. E. (2015). Looking for Two-sided Coattail Effects: Integrated Parties and Multilevel Elections in the U.S. Electoral Studies, 40, 66-75.

  
  Moral, M., Özen, H. E., & Tokdemir, E. (2015). Bringing the Incumbency Advantage into Question for Proportional Representation. Electoral Studies, 40, 56-65.

  
  Carkoglu, A., Vitiello, T., & Moral, M. (2012). Voter Advice Applications in Practice: Answers to Some Key Questions from Turkey. International Journal of Electronic Governance, 5(3/4), 298-317.

  
  Zhirnov, A. (2010). Issues of Territorial Stability in India. In I. M. Busygina, L. V. Smirnagin, & M. G. Filippov (Eds.), “Giant”-States: Problems of Territorial Stability. MGIMO-University.

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Hire a Binghamton PhD

• Hire a PhD

  Andrew Foote

  • Dissertation Title: Choosing Who Votes
  • Chair: David Clark
  • Committee: Amanda Licht, Ekrem Karakoç
  • Dissertation Synopsis: When are we likely to see incumbents undertake electoral reforms that selectively alter the voting population? I argue that reforms such as absentee voting, citizenship extensions and revocations, and ballot quotas are tools of pre-election manipulation (PEM) that an incumbent can use when there is growing support for an opposition group, but she has committed to improving the quality of elections. When an incumbent commits to improving the quality of elections, she makes it more costly to engage in electoral fraud or to repress the growing base of opposition support. PEM strategies allow the incumbent to selectively alter the electoral playing field while avoiding the perception that her commitment to election quality has weakened. I introduce the Citizenship, Absentee Voting and Suffrage Dataset, and create an index of PEM usage. I test the relationship between growing opposition support, commitment to election quality, and uses of PEM strategies, and also test the effects of PEM usage on the likelihood of future protests and leader turnover.

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  Didem Seyis

  • Dissertation Title: A Third Wave of Autocratization?: An In-Depth Look into the Populist-
    Driven Executive Aggrandizement
  • Chair: Robin E. Best
  • Committee: Ekrem Karakoc, William B. Heller
  • Dissertation Synopsis: In my dissertation, I argue that populists, when they control the executive and the legislative branches, gradually expand their control over checks and balances and erode democratic institutions. To show this phenomenon, which Bermeo (2016) calls “executive aggrandizement,” in Chapter 1, I explore the global trends of democracy measures and show that democracies governed by populist incumbents who also control the majority of the legislature experience democratic backsliding. In Chapter 2, I
    turn to the judiciary, arguably the most vital democratic check on the executive and
    legislative branches. I specifically focus on judicial independence and demonstrate
    quantitatively that populist incumbents who control the majority of the legislature
    gradually expand their control over the judicial system. After showing quantitative
    evidence for global populist-driven executive aggrandizement in two chapters, I study how populists erode the independence of the judiciary by conducting process tracing on
    Turkey and Ecuador. My dissertation contributes to the democratic backsliding and populism literature by showing that (1) the populist-driven democratic decline is not limited to a few outliers but a global trend, although (2) (younger) unconsolidated democracies are affected more significantly than consolidated democracies. Also, this study explores (3) the specific conditions and chain of events that lead to executive aggrandizement at the expense of judicial independence.

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Distinguished Dissertation Award

2023  Huei-Jyun Ye "Deals to be Determined: Domestic Political Uncertainties and Trade Negotitaions."