Thirteenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

Even though there are many differences between U.S and Turkish politics, current leaders of these countries have various similarities. Currently both are leaders of highly polarized societies. In this paper address the following question: are these two leaders the causal factors in creating polarization, or are they the consequences of polarization that is already present in respective societies? In order to understand this question, it is important to analyze why people of these two different cases elected their respective politicians. In this study, using Mill’s most different systems method, I argue that preceding economic crisis might be a strong indicator that led to the crisis of previous left-wing parties and resulted in a shift from class-based politics to value-based politics in both countries leading to the elections of Donald Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. I also argue that value-based politics tend to overlap with populist authoritarian policies which further the polarization of the respective societies.