Democratisation in Turkey: The role of political parties

Cadmus Home
>
Department of Political and Social Sciences (SPS)
>
SPS Books
>
View Item

Democratisation in Turkey: The role of political parties

TURSAN, Huri

Title: Democratisation in Turkey: The role of political parties

Author: TURSAN, Huri

Date: 2004

Publisher: Bruxelles, PIE-Peter Lang

Citation: Bruxelles, PIE-Peter Lang, 2004

URI: http://hdl.handle.net/1814/22578

ISBN: 9789052012360

Abstract:

Party politics has been undergoing a revival in many democracies. However, parties are much less studied in countries with unstable political regimes. Party interactions can help to provide explanations for the emergence and performance of regimes, whether of the democratic or authoritarian type. This book is a comprehensive case study that analyses, in depth, Turkish political parties. Starting with broad historical analysis, Huri Tursan takes the reader down to the most recent electoral activities and party politics in a country whose topicality is on the rise, not least due to its political problems. While the author deals with many issues of politics (including the role of the military), she focuses on an aspect of party competition which renders democracy problematic in Turkey, namely polarisation in party politics along cleavages.

Description:

(Published version of EUI PhD thesis, 1999.)

--Acknowledgements --Introduction --I. Relevance of Democracy for Turkey 16 --II. Relevance of Political Parties for Democratisation in Turkey 17 --CHAPTER 1. Historical Evolution of Political Party Activity in Turkey 21 --I. Why Historical Background? 21 --II. Party Activity in the Pre-republican Period 26 --III. Party Activity under One-party Rule 34 --IV. Transition to Multi-party Politics 46 --V. Conclusion 50 --CHAPTER 2. The Discontinuous Continuum of a Party-centred Polity (1950-1960) 53 --I. Introduction 53 --II. Party System Polarisation and Stability 54 --III. Polarisation of the Turkish Party System 58 --IV. Two-party System 60 --CHAPTER 3. The Institutional Setting of Re-democratisation I 79 --I. Military Direct Rule I 79 --II. Institution Building under Military Rule I 80 --III. Mode of Transition from Military Rule I 85 --Democratisation in Turkey --CHAPTER 4. Salient Cleavages and Political Parties (1960-1980) 89 --I. Introduction 89 --II. Social Stratification 90 --III. Political Party Alignment 98 --IV. Conclusion 121 --CHAPTER 5. Parameters of Party Competition (1960-1980) 123 --I. Introduction 123 --II. Parties in the Electorate 124 --III. Electoral Stability/Volatility 132 --IV. Parties in Parliament 141 --V. Constraints on Party Organisation 146 --CHAPTER 6. Parties in Government and Opposition (1960-1980) 151 --I. Coalition Government Polarisation 1(1961-1965) 151 --II. Majority Government and Strict Competition (1965-1973) .... 152 --III. Coalition Government Polarisation 11 (1973-1980) 168 --IV. Preliminary Conclusion 172 --CHAPTER 7. The Institutional Setting of Re-democratisation 11 (1980-1983) 175 --I. Military Rule 11 (1980-1983) 175 --II. Institutional Restructuring during Military Rule II 177 --III. Liberalisation with One-sided Constitution-making II 179 --IV. Reversal of Constitutional Principles 180 --V. The Constraint of Extensive Military Tutelage 187 --VI. Mode of Transition II 188 -CHAPTER 8. Continuity and Metamorphosis in the Role of Political Parties (1983-2003) 191 --I. The Re-emergence of Party Politics 191 --II. Continuity and Change in Salient Cleavages 197 --III. Parties in the Electorate 213 --IV. Parties in Parliament 222 --V. Parties in Government (1983-2003) 224 --VI. Preliminary Conclusion 246 --CHAPTER 9. Conclusion 249 --I. The Review of Research Questions 249 --II. Military Supervision of Democracy as a Constraint 250 --III. International Support as a Resource? 256 --IV. The Role of Political Parties as Protagonists of Democratisation 262 --V. Continuity and Metamorphosis in the Role of Political Parties in Turkey 264 --Bibliography 271

Show full item record