M. AYTUG SASMAZ Doctoral Student Department of Government Harvard University +1 401 837 0279 sasmaz@g.harvard.edu INTERESTS Political economy of development (particularly social policies and education policies) State-building and state-restructuring, local politics, decentralization reforms Politics in the Middle East (particularly Turkey, Egypt, and Tunisia), Europe and the US Research methods and analytical strategies in comparative politics and public policy analysis EDUCATION Graduate student (PhD) in Government Harvard University Jan 2015- MA Political Science 2014 Brown University Primary advisor: Prof. Melani Cammett Primary field: Comparative politics, secondary field: American politics and public policy * Entered the program as a PhD student in Sep 2013, transferred to Harvard in Jan 2015 MSc (Merit) International Political Economy 2007 London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Dissertation on political and structural determinants of labor market outcomes in Eurozone countries BA (High Hons) Political Science and International Relations Bogaziçi University (Istanbul) 2008 PROFESSIONAL Education Policy Analyst 2008-2013 Education Reform Initiative, Sabancı University (Istanbul) Key accomplishments include: Coordination, editing and partial authorship of four annual Education Monitoring Reports (150+ pages), assessment of the school development grant program in collaboration with the World Bank, comprehensive situation analysis of public financial management in primary education for possible steps towards decentralization, conducted 25 semi-structured interviews with bureaucrats from public agencies, in addition to various other policy analysis and advocacy projects. Freelance Consultant to the Education Program UNICEF Turkey Office 2011-2013 Country Editor (Iran), The Business Year Publishing 2010 Key accomplishments include: Lived in Tehran for three months, interviewed 70+ businessmen academics and bureaucrats for the investment guide. Drafted 10+ reviews about different sectors of Iranian economy. PUBLICATIONS Book chapter • “Social Welfare in Developing Countries” (with Melani Cammett). In Oxford Handbook of Historical Institutionalism (Tulia Falleti, Orfeo Fioretos and Adam Sheingate, eds.). New York: Oxford University Press, forthcoming. Research and policy reports (selected) • • Politics of Educational Expansion in Turkey. Background Paper for UNESCO Education For All Global Monitoring Report 2015. 4+4+4: Temel Egitimin Kademelendirilmesi Sürecinin Izlenmesi (4+4+4: Monitoring the New Grade-Span Configuration in Basic Education in Turkey, with Gülsah Gürkan, Fulya Koyuncu and Alper Dinçer). Istanbul: Education Reform Initiative and Turkish Education Volunteers’ Foundation, 2014. • School Grants in Turkey: Assessment of the School Development Program (with Aysen Köse), Istanbul: Ministry of National Education, World Bank and Education Reform Initiative, forthcoming. Articles in non-indexed journals • • • “In which direction does the education policy of AK Party change?”, ResearchTurkey, April 2013. Available at http://researchturkey.org/wp/wordpress/?p=3044. “PISA 2009: Where Does Turkey Stand?” (with Nihan Köseleci), Turkish Policy Quarterly, Vol. 10 No. 2, September 2011. “4+4+4: Turning the education system upside down”, Perspectives (bimonthly political magazine of Heinrich Böll Foundation), 2012. Available at http://tr.boell.org/web/511408.html. PRESENTATIONS Conference presentations • • AWARDS & GRANTS “School Fees and Local Control – Is There A Link? Evidence from Turkish Case” (with Aysen Köse and Çagdas Sirin), presentation delivered at the Annual Conference of Association of Education Finance and Policy, and Annual Conference of Comparative and International Education Society, March 2013. “The Financial Management of Primary Schools: Case Studies from Turkey” (with Aysen Köse), presentation delivered at Annual Conference of Association of Education Finance and Policy, March 2012. George Washington University Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS) Travel Research Engagement Grant ($3,000), Summer 2015 Brown University Watson Institute Graduate Program in Development (GPD) Summer Preliminary Research Grant ($2,500) and Brown University Middle East Studies Program Graduate Student Research Grant ($500), Summer 2014 Kutayba Alghanim Fellowship in Politics and Economics for Graduate Studies at Brown University, 2013-2014 European Commission Jean Monnet Scholarship for Master’s level studies, 2007-08 ($65,000) Bertha Heraeus and Kathinka Platzhoff Scholarship for European Integration, 2006-07 Ranked 2nd place among Class 2007 of Political Science and International Relations majors, Bogaziçi University SKILLS Languages Turkish (mother tongue), English (fluent), German (fluent), Arabic (Modern Standard, intermediate) Research methods Elite interviews, survey design and analysis, quantitative econometric analysis (STATA), spatial analysis (ArcGIS, GeoDa), public budget analysis References available upon request