scholarly journals Political Development of Turkey

Author(s):  
Ergun Özbudun

This article is divided into three main parts: the Historical Setting, the Constitutional System, and Contemporary Politics. The first part analyzes the Ottoman-Turkish political developments from the start of the reform period to the transition to a competitive party system (1789–1946). Indeed, Turkey offers an interesting combination of elements of change and continuity. On the one hand, the change from the multinational and multireligious Ottoman monarchy to a Westernizing, republican nation-state represents a sharp break with the past. On the other hand, below this surface of radical change one can observe strong elements of continuity, such as an authoritarian and statist political culture that prioritizes the “sublime interests of the state” (raison d’état) over individual rights and liberties. It is also true that the main center-periphery cleavage in contemporary Turkish politics had its roots in the Ottoman past. The center-periphery cleavage in the Turkish context denotes the cleavage between the central military and bureaucratic state elites, on the one hand, and all social segments that remain outside this center, on the other. The second part focuses on the present constitutional system, with references to earlier constitutional developments. It will be observed that none of the Ottoman and the republican constitutions, with the partial exception of that of 1921, were made by a freely elected and broadly representative constituent or legislative assembly through a process of genuine deliberations and compromises. Consequently, they all lacked sufficient democratic legitimacy. The third part analyzes various aspects of contemporary Turkish politics, from the democratic transition in the mid-1940s up to the present time. One of the most striking facts about contemporary Turkish politics is that, despite nearly seventy years of multi-party competitive politics, Turkey has not yet been able to fully consolidate its democratic system and, since 2013, it has been experiencing a drift toward authoritarianism. This part also deals with such challenges as the rise of political Islam and of Kurdish nationalism.

2008 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 579-598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerardo Scherlis

AbstractThis article contends that intra-party dynamics based on particularistic exchanges constitute a double-edged sword for a political system. On the one hand, they provide party leaders with strategic flexibility, which can be essential for their party stability and for the governability of the political system. On the other hand, in permitting office holders to switch policies whenever they consider fit, these dynamics render governments unpredictable and unaccountable in partisan terms, thus debasing the quality of democratic representation. The hypothesis is illustrated by recent Argentine political development.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wojciech Rafałowski

In recent years, a significant amount of research has been devoted to theorising and explaining parties’ vote-seeking behaviours with regard to emphasising certain policy domains and ignoring others. These strategies are largely determined by the parties’ issue ownership and the context of the competition. In this article, I explore the interaction between these two groups of factors, that is, how a given party type and its role within the party system moderate the political actor’s responsiveness to various unfolding events. The study uses a collection of Facebook posts published by the official profiles of some of the Polish political parties. I demonstrate that the competitors develop distinct strategies of issue emphasis in accordance with the incentives coming from the events that occur on the one hand and their strengths and weaknesses related to certain issue domains on the other.


2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Decker ◽  
Lazaros Miliopoulos

Right-wing extremist and populist parties operate in a rather difficult social and political environment in Germany, rendering notable electoral success fairly improbable, especially when compared to other European countries. The main reason for this is the continuing legacy of the Nazi past. Nevertheless the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) managed to gain substantial votes in recent Land elections and became the leading force in the right-wing extremist political camp. Its success is attributable to rightwing extremist attitudes in some parts of the electorate in connection with a widespread feeling of political discontent. Nevertheless, it is questionable whether the NPD will be able to transform these attitudes into a viable ideological basis for two main reasons. On the one hand, maintaining a neo-Nazi ideology makes the NPD unattractive to many potential voters. On the other hand, given its internal power struggles and severe financial problems, the party may be unable to meet its challenges in organizational terms.


1977 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheah Boon Kheng

Following Japan's announcement of unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers on 14 August 1945, almost three crucial weeks elapsed in Malaya before the landing of the British Royal Marines at Penang on 3 September. A day before the Marines landed, Vice-Admiral Walker had arrived off Penang aboard H.M.S. Nelson, and received the surrender of the local Japanese commanders. What happened in Malaya during the Interregnum still awaits a comprehensive study. The Interregnum is an important period in Malaya's social and political history which saw, on the one hand, the dramatic and cataclysmic collapse of the Japanese order and, on the other, the eruption of local political and social forces which were involved in a relentless and deadly struggle for power. True, there was no social revolution, as in Indonesia. What took place were conflicts along mainly communal rather than class lines. No class conflicts took place among the Malays, as in Sumatra between the traditional and religious groups, or among the Chinese and Indians. The social structures of the various communities in Malaya emerged relatively intact throughout the Interregnum and in the period thereafter. But there were bloody racial clashes, between Malays and Chinese. There were also bloody political feuds amongst the Chinese themselves. But, on the whole, the Malay-Chinese conflicts had far more serious repercussions on Malaya's post-war society and political development.


2008 ◽  
pp. 47-52
Author(s):  
Zoltán Magyar

In Hungary the operating medium of game management and the guided hunting sector is undergoing such a radical change nowadays that on the one hand it considerably influences the profit-producing ability of the sector, and on the other hand it sets the actors of the industry new challenges and opportunities. If the Hungarian hunting industry, which has a traditional past, also wishes to preserve its position in this changed business medium, it is essential that the new situation be thoroughly assessed, and the value-oriented marketing attitude be adapted. The phenomena presented in this essay discuss the consequences and causes of the appearance of new service providers regarding the supply side, and the content changes of the consumer group and the modification of earlier consumption preferences and their causes on the demand side. The changing of the two media jointly generate the adaptation of the value-oriented service - marketing concepts, by using which the areas to be developed and deemed as the narrow cross-section of consumer decisions can be determined. After specifying the target group specific marketing properties of the aove-mentioned – prestige – service, such services of high utility content can already be established successfully that can be positioned as a proper alternative for the new consumer group of higher value expectation. On the other hand, the employment and profitability indexes related to this sector may considerably be improved.


Author(s):  
Agustí Bosch

This chapter examines the Spanish electoral system, meaning—first and foremost—the one used to elect the lower house (Congreso de los Diputados). After a brief description of its components, the chapter assesses how its scarce proportionality has traditionally led Spanish politics towards a two-party system. The chapter also assesses some other of its alleged outcomes (such as the malapportionment, the weight of the regional parties, or the robustness of democracy) and its prospects for the future. Finally, the chapter also examines the ‘other’ Spanish electoral systems—that is, the ones used to elect the Senate, the local councils, the regional parliaments, and the Spanish seats in the European Parliament.


Author(s):  
Willy Wo-Lap Lam

This chapter explores the macro-level political development in China and the possibilities of liberalization in the context of weiquan and weiwen. The government is resorting to both hard and soft measures to maintain stability and legitimacy. On the one hand, a “scorched earth policy” is used against dissidents who may be perceived to challenge the Chinese Communist Party directly, as demonstrated by the prosecution and heavy punishment of Liu Xiaobo and his comrades-in-arms. On the other, the CCP has taken a reconciliatory approach in dealing with the poor, the liberal elements within the CCP, and the Uighurs in Xinjiang. In general, however, the CCP is retreating to a conservative comfort zone ideologically and institutionally. This suggests that there are only slim chances of further political reform.


2014 ◽  
pp. 129-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Zaostrovtsev

The article analyzes the conception of the history and progress of mankind, presented in recent fundamental research by Deirdre McCloskey. The author stresses the non-materialistic view of institutional change that is characteristic of them. The article examines the controversy with almost all current explanations of the breakthrough of the Western world to the economic growth and prosperity. The paper also presents McCloskey’s own theory that explains this breakthrough by the radical change of rhetoric recognizing the “bourgeois virtues” and the dignity of the bourgeoisie. Attention is drawn to the fact that McCloskey’s views repudiate the predetermined course of history, on the one hand, and its irreversibility, on the other.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-45
Author(s):  
Marko Stankovic ◽  
Bojan Milisavljević

The paper analyzes Serbian system of local self-government under the Constitution of 2006 and its possible improvements. There are two major aspects of reform. On the one side, there are weaknesses in internal law and practice that were detected in last three decades and six concrete proposals for their correction. On the other side, considering that Serbia negotiates on integration with the EU, some improvements of the system should be a result of that process, fully in accordance with the European standards of local self-government. Reforming the local self-government in both of these directions should lead to better legal framework in the Republic of Serbia and upgrading the constitutional system.


2013 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 751-773 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Michael Wuthrich

AbstractFor nearly forty years, scholars have utilized the metanarrative of a center–periphery cleavage first proposed by Şerif Mardin to explain a variety of phenomena in Turkish politics and society. When used to interpret electoral cleavages in the multiparty period, however, a center–periphery cleavage cannot effectively explain electoral outcomes. Focusing on the initial stage of multiparty competition, when the cleavage is often said to have been most salient, this article explores the empirical evidence to show that the concept as commonly employed has actually confounded an effective understanding of electoral behavior in Turkey. Rather than demonstrating a clear electoral division between the elites of the social center and the masses during this period, the article reveals two distinct cross-cutting patron-client strategies used by elite-dominated parties to cater to the rural population. The significant patterns of change in Turkey's electoral outcomes over time further illustrate the need to focus on how political parties and elites accumulate votes—that is, on their vote targeting strategies—rather than rely on static sociopolitical cleavages.


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