Hi! My name is Kerem Yildirim. I am an assistant professor in the  Bilkent University's Department of Political Science and Public Administration.

My research examines how formal and informal institutions, as well as socioeconomic structures, shape party-voter linkages, political competition, and political behavior. I focus especially on understanding how informal networks and clientelistic relationships influence political attitudes and preferences.

You can find some of my published work on this website. Currently, I am working on the Democratic Accountability and Linkages Project and finalizing my book, Continuous Clientelism: Persuasion and Preference Change in Turkey. This book explores the dynamics between clients, brokers, and patrons, and how continuity in political linkages affects political behavior. In this project, I use original datasets and experiments to demonstrate that clientelism can bring recipients closer to their party’s policy positions.

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