Mert Kartal | St Lawrence University (original) (raw)

Papers by Mert Kartal

Research paper thumbnail of Democracy assistance by international organizations

Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Jan 6, 2023

Research paper thumbnail of Why the EU should work with opposition parties to avoid democratic backsliding

Policymakers and scholars of the European Union have been increasingly more concerned about democ... more Policymakers and scholars of the European Union have been increasingly more concerned about democratic backsliding in member countries where the EU no longer possesses the 'membership' carrot for continued reforms. But is the EU really hopeless when it comes to helping members safeguard and promote good governance? Mert Kartal presents findings from a recent study which suggest that the EU can make a difference by convincing and/or empowering opposition parties in member countries to uphold good governance.

Research paper thumbnail of PS338—The European Union: Politics and Political Economy

Research paper thumbnail of Preventing Backsliding in Post-Communist Europe: The Eu's Impact on Corruption after Accession

Research paper thumbnail of Facilitating Deep Learning and Professional Skills Attainment in the Classroom: The Value of a Model United Nations Course

Journal of Political Science Education, 2020

What is the role of Model United Nations (MUN) in facilitating deep learning and professional ski... more What is the role of Model United Nations (MUN) in facilitating deep learning and professional skills attainment in the classroom? Using a 15-week MUN course, I gather data on student progress in four levels of knowledge: factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive. I use pre-and post-activity surveys as well as the instructor's own assessments designed to capture respondents' initial knowledge/skill levels and measure the improvement they achieve throughout the semester. Additionally, I conduct debriefing sessions with each respondent to gather additional data on their progress. The findings suggest that the in-class MUN experience as a whole has a substantial positive impact on students' factual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge as well as their self-perceived skills of negotiation, decision-making, public speaking, research, and teamwork. A comparison of respondents' self-evaluations and the instructor's assessment of student progress offers additional interesting findings: Despite the holistic nature of MUN as an experiential learning activity, course design is still key in targeting the skills to be improved. The course assessed here has strengthened negotiation and public speaking skills most substantially. The analyses also reveal that findings based exclusively on self-assessments must be approached with caution because they significantly overestimate students' initial knowledge and skill levels.

Research paper thumbnail of Accounting for the bad apples: the EU's impact on national corruption before and after accession

Journal of European Public Policy, 2014

ABSTRACT When states with limited evidence in their history to suggest that they are committed to... more ABSTRACT When states with limited evidence in their history to suggest that they are committed to good governance join a democratic international organization (IO), to what extent do they respect IO requirements? Focusing on the European Union (EU) and its Central and Eastern European members, this contribution presents the first systematic analysis based on longitudinal data in the existing literature suggesting that control of corruption in these countries has significantly weakened after accession. The findings suggest that the EU's political leverage (i.e., its ability to offer electoral incentives to opposition parties in national legislatures and, hence, mobilize them to pressure governments to deliver reforms) is a key determinant of the change in state performance. As political leverage weakens substantially following accession, governments favoring economic policies prone to corruption help account for the negative change in control of corruption.

Research paper thumbnail of The EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy In the Post-September 11 Era: "The Utility of a Constructivist Approach

The EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy has been described as flawed or even non-existing... more The EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy has been described as flawed or even non-existing by many critics due to its intergovernmentalist nature. One of the latest incidents illustrating the CFSP's malfunction came about in 2003 after the US decided to engage in a war against Iraq. The failure of the EU to generate a unified stance regarding the decision on how to act in Iraq was put forward as one of the most striking examples crystallizing the division within the EU due to the member states? tendency to prioritize their self-interest. This study adopts a different perspective as it makes an analysis of the CFSP developments going back to very beginning of this period, namely 11 September 2001. Moving along a chronological chain of events, it examines the developments within the EU during September 11, the war in Afghanistan and the Iraq War respectively through both rationalist ?Liberal Intergovernmentalism? and constructivist ?Europeanization Theory? perspectives. By ...

Research paper thumbnail of Has the Dwarf Grown Up?

Journal of European Integration, 2010

... View full textDownload full text Full access. DOI: 10.1080/07036331003669415 A. Mert Kartal a... more ... View full textDownload full text Full access. DOI: 10.1080/07036331003669415 A. Mert Kartal a * ... Therefore, despite the fact that they are quite optimistic about political integration, they do not unconditionally argue for multi‐level governance (see Hooghe and Marks 20039 ...

Research paper thumbnail of Incentivizing the Opposition: The EU’s Impact on Good Governance in Central and Eastern Europe

Comparative European Politics, 2020

Under what conditions does the European Union (EU) promote good governance? Focusing on the EU me... more Under what conditions does the European Union (EU) promote good governance? Focusing on the EU members in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), I present the first systematic analysis in the literature based on longitudinal data suggesting state performance varies across two indicators of governance: While there has been a general trend of backsliding in corruption control since EU accession, various time series analyses reveal no such tendency regarding ethnic minority rights. I argue that the EU has the ability to offer electoral incentives/opportunities to opposition parties in national legislatures to adopt pro-EU policy preferences, which pressures government parties to implement reforms demanded by the EU. Several statistical models suggest that such political leverage the EU has over national governments is a stronger explanation for the cross-issue variation than any other alternative in the literature including the popular ‘membership conditionality’ argument. More specifically, prior to membership, the EU offers electoral incentives to opposition parties in CEE and mobilizes them to pressure governments to fight corruption. Yet, following accession, parties move away from EU-induced policies. Regarding minority protection, pro-minority opposition parties empowered by the EU during candidacy continue to favor pro-minority policies after accession and push governments accordingly.

Research paper thumbnail of Democracy assistance by international organizations

Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Jan 6, 2023

Research paper thumbnail of Why the EU should work with opposition parties to avoid democratic backsliding

Policymakers and scholars of the European Union have been increasingly more concerned about democ... more Policymakers and scholars of the European Union have been increasingly more concerned about democratic backsliding in member countries where the EU no longer possesses the 'membership' carrot for continued reforms. But is the EU really hopeless when it comes to helping members safeguard and promote good governance? Mert Kartal presents findings from a recent study which suggest that the EU can make a difference by convincing and/or empowering opposition parties in member countries to uphold good governance.

Research paper thumbnail of PS338—The European Union: Politics and Political Economy

Research paper thumbnail of Preventing Backsliding in Post-Communist Europe: The Eu's Impact on Corruption after Accession

Research paper thumbnail of Facilitating Deep Learning and Professional Skills Attainment in the Classroom: The Value of a Model United Nations Course

Journal of Political Science Education, 2020

What is the role of Model United Nations (MUN) in facilitating deep learning and professional ski... more What is the role of Model United Nations (MUN) in facilitating deep learning and professional skills attainment in the classroom? Using a 15-week MUN course, I gather data on student progress in four levels of knowledge: factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive. I use pre-and post-activity surveys as well as the instructor's own assessments designed to capture respondents' initial knowledge/skill levels and measure the improvement they achieve throughout the semester. Additionally, I conduct debriefing sessions with each respondent to gather additional data on their progress. The findings suggest that the in-class MUN experience as a whole has a substantial positive impact on students' factual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge as well as their self-perceived skills of negotiation, decision-making, public speaking, research, and teamwork. A comparison of respondents' self-evaluations and the instructor's assessment of student progress offers additional interesting findings: Despite the holistic nature of MUN as an experiential learning activity, course design is still key in targeting the skills to be improved. The course assessed here has strengthened negotiation and public speaking skills most substantially. The analyses also reveal that findings based exclusively on self-assessments must be approached with caution because they significantly overestimate students' initial knowledge and skill levels.

Research paper thumbnail of Accounting for the bad apples: the EU's impact on national corruption before and after accession

Journal of European Public Policy, 2014

ABSTRACT When states with limited evidence in their history to suggest that they are committed to... more ABSTRACT When states with limited evidence in their history to suggest that they are committed to good governance join a democratic international organization (IO), to what extent do they respect IO requirements? Focusing on the European Union (EU) and its Central and Eastern European members, this contribution presents the first systematic analysis based on longitudinal data in the existing literature suggesting that control of corruption in these countries has significantly weakened after accession. The findings suggest that the EU's political leverage (i.e., its ability to offer electoral incentives to opposition parties in national legislatures and, hence, mobilize them to pressure governments to deliver reforms) is a key determinant of the change in state performance. As political leverage weakens substantially following accession, governments favoring economic policies prone to corruption help account for the negative change in control of corruption.

Research paper thumbnail of The EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy In the Post-September 11 Era: "The Utility of a Constructivist Approach

The EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy has been described as flawed or even non-existing... more The EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy has been described as flawed or even non-existing by many critics due to its intergovernmentalist nature. One of the latest incidents illustrating the CFSP's malfunction came about in 2003 after the US decided to engage in a war against Iraq. The failure of the EU to generate a unified stance regarding the decision on how to act in Iraq was put forward as one of the most striking examples crystallizing the division within the EU due to the member states? tendency to prioritize their self-interest. This study adopts a different perspective as it makes an analysis of the CFSP developments going back to very beginning of this period, namely 11 September 2001. Moving along a chronological chain of events, it examines the developments within the EU during September 11, the war in Afghanistan and the Iraq War respectively through both rationalist ?Liberal Intergovernmentalism? and constructivist ?Europeanization Theory? perspectives. By ...

Research paper thumbnail of Has the Dwarf Grown Up?

Journal of European Integration, 2010

... View full textDownload full text Full access. DOI: 10.1080/07036331003669415 A. Mert Kartal a... more ... View full textDownload full text Full access. DOI: 10.1080/07036331003669415 A. Mert Kartal a * ... Therefore, despite the fact that they are quite optimistic about political integration, they do not unconditionally argue for multi‐level governance (see Hooghe and Marks 20039 ...

Research paper thumbnail of Incentivizing the Opposition: The EU’s Impact on Good Governance in Central and Eastern Europe

Comparative European Politics, 2020

Under what conditions does the European Union (EU) promote good governance? Focusing on the EU me... more Under what conditions does the European Union (EU) promote good governance? Focusing on the EU members in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), I present the first systematic analysis in the literature based on longitudinal data suggesting state performance varies across two indicators of governance: While there has been a general trend of backsliding in corruption control since EU accession, various time series analyses reveal no such tendency regarding ethnic minority rights. I argue that the EU has the ability to offer electoral incentives/opportunities to opposition parties in national legislatures to adopt pro-EU policy preferences, which pressures government parties to implement reforms demanded by the EU. Several statistical models suggest that such political leverage the EU has over national governments is a stronger explanation for the cross-issue variation than any other alternative in the literature including the popular ‘membership conditionality’ argument. More specifically, prior to membership, the EU offers electoral incentives to opposition parties in CEE and mobilizes them to pressure governments to fight corruption. Yet, following accession, parties move away from EU-induced policies. Regarding minority protection, pro-minority opposition parties empowered by the EU during candidacy continue to favor pro-minority policies after accession and push governments accordingly.