Thesiss

Democracy is in crisis around the world. Boosted by global phenomena such as globalization and the development of internet, along with a series of crises, which widened the gap between the elite and citizens, this trend was characterized by the rise of populism in both mature de…

This dissertation draws on twelve months of fieldwork (2001-2003) in Karachi with citizens, neighborhood intermediaries, and activists of the Muhajir Nationalist Movement (MQM). It examines forms of government and popular political action that emerge in response to the martial s…

Understanding the dynamics of regimes that combine the external trappings of democracy with the substance of authoritarian rule is a central puzzle facing comparative political scientists. Thus far, much of the literature addressing hybrid regimes has focused on the importance o…

Why do some international events make news headlines in autocratic countries, while others do not'? When do they give events prominent, attention, and when do they bury them? When do they present the news with bias? This dissertation offers answers to these questions. It evaluat…

This dissertation studies political representation in democratic and autocratic regimes. It asks two questions: first, how can citizens influence politics in some of the least democratic regimes? Second, how do citizens form their expectations of political representation followi…

When Činggis Qan died in 1227, the Mongol Empire was a confederation of steppe peoples engaged in conquests over other steppe societies as well as civilizations of Central Eurasia. By the time of the election of Činggis Qan’s grandson, Möngke, to the office of qa’an in 1251, the…