Burak Tan

Burak Tan is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science, specializing in political theory and comparative politics.

His work brings together the history of political thought with ethnographic methods to develop new theories of democracy and authoritarianism. His current research examines how authoritarian governments appeal to citizens, especially when standard indicators such as economic success and state capacity cannot explain their popularity.

Burak holds an MA in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago’s MAPSS program and dual BAs in Political Science and Sociology from Boğaziçi University in Turkey.