Didem Seyis

Didem Seyis is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Central European University Democracy Institute and a Visiting Researcher at Binghamton University's Center on Democratic Performance. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Binghamton University. Her research focuses on democratic backsliding, populism, identity politics, and voting behavior in Latin America and Europe. She has conducted extensive analysis on how populist governments undermine judicial independence and shape public attitudes.

Dr. Seyis has held prior roles at Johns Hopkins University and contributed to projects like the COVID-19 Protective Policy Index (PPI). Her work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Nature, Political Studies, and Electoral Studies. She co-authored a chapter in *The Ideational Approach to Populism, Volume II* (2024), examining populist executives and judicial independence in Latin America.

Her academic contributions include co-leadership of the OPUS Young Scholars Initiative on Populism and co-founding the Istanbul Political Research Institute. She teaches courses on regime change, populism, and voting behavior, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding democratic challenges.