State repression and populist discourse: A comparative case study of Gezi Park Movement, Occupy Wall Street Movement and the Egyptian Revolution

Why do democracies repress nonviolent civilian mobilization? Why do democracies use populist discourse as a response to nonviolent civilian mobilization? This thesis examines the effect of populist discourse on state repression of nonviolent civilian mobilization. The central claim of this thesis is that governments respond to nonviolent civilian mobilization with populist discourse, i.e., independent variable, to expand the limits of political opportunities for repression. I built on the literature by including an independent variable, namely populist discourse, to the existing model of repression and mobilization. The causal effect of "populist discourse" is tested through a structured and focused comparative case study, namely most similar systems analysis, through which I compare Gezi Park Movement, the Egyptian Revolution and Occupy Wall Street Movement. These three cases provide evidence that the populist discourse effects state repression of nonviolent mobilization.