This volume explores aspects of democratic backsliding in Turkey, focusing on the relevance of historical legacies, civil society, the opposition, the media, and political economy.
This volume offers a variety of perspectives on Turkey's democratic backsliding since 2010 as the ruling Justice and Development Party and President Recep T. Erdogan have consolidated their rule. It highlights numerous historical, ideological, and structural forces that have contributed to this process, explores the weaknesses of the opposition and civil society actors, examines how the changing political economy has contributed to growing authoritarianism, and notes how growing authoritarianism has impacted different political and social actors. It also suggests some factors that might help reverse the current processes of de-democratization.
List of Figures and Table - Isabel David/Paul Kubicek: Introduction - Özgür Salmanog: Theoretical Approaches to De-Democratization and Regime Development in Turkey - Devrim Sahin/Ahmet Sözen: The Political (Non)-Development of Turkey at Its Centenary: The Revival of Peker's Autocratic State-Party System - Sevgi Dogan: Erdogan's Regressive Caesarism: A Tentative Gramscian Reading of Contemporary Turkish De-Democratization - Murat Akser: De-democratization of Turkish Media: A New Century of Opposition and Resistance? - Ekin Emek Berber/Günizi Satar: Impunity Policy in Turkey and Victims' Right to Know the Truth - Ülker Sözen: Emotional Landscape of Activism in Turkey: Hope and Emotional Sustainability Under Authoritarianism - Gökhan Demir: Big Business Response to Authoritarianism in 1990s Turkey: The Case of the New Democracy Movement in Turkey - Alp Kayserlioglu: The Discontents of Authoritarianism in Neoliberalism: Contradictions between the State and the Capitalist Class in Turkey after 2018 - Carlo Sanna: An Account of Intra-party Democracy in Turkey's Republican People's Party [Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi] 2010-2023 - Seda Demiralp: Changes and Continuities in Opposition Discourse: Politicizing Corruption Ahead of 2023 Elections - Notes on Contributors - Index
Paul Kubicek is Professor of Political Science at Oakland University. He has published extensively on Turkish politics, has taught at Koç University and Bogaziçi University in Turkey, and serves as editor of Turkish Studies.
"This volume is a comprehensive and essential analysis of the Justice and Democracy Party's (AKP) rise to power and Recep Erdogan's success in establishing an authoritarian political system in Turkey. Contributors employ different perspectives in describing factors behind the breakdown of Turkey's weak democracy, domination of state institutions by Erdogan loyalists, social engineering through neo-Ottomanism, and internal and external contradictions that present severe challenges for Turkey." -Birol Yesilada, Professor of Political Science, Portland State University
