The failure of democracy in Turkey: a comparative analysis

Although Turkey took its initial steps toward establishing democracy in 1950, it has thus far failed to become a fully functioning democracy. Using the comparison cases of Spain and Greece, this paper discusses two related variables that are likely to have thwarted the development of full democracy...

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Main Authors: McLaren, Lauren M., Cop, Burak
Format: Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2011
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1452/
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author McLaren, Lauren M.
Cop, Burak
author_facet McLaren, Lauren M.
Cop, Burak
author_sort McLaren, Lauren M.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Although Turkey took its initial steps toward establishing democracy in 1950, it has thus far failed to become a fully functioning democracy. Using the comparison cases of Spain and Greece, this paper discusses two related variables that are likely to have thwarted the development of full democracy in Turkey: (1) experience with authoritarian rule and (2) elite settlement or convergence toward acceptance of the democratic rules of the game. The paper ultimately contends that despite the EU’s attempt to push Turkey towards full democracy in the modern day it is unlikely that Turkey will become a fully functioning democracy until it manages to achieve civilian elite agreement regarding the rules of the Turkish democratic game, and that Turkey’s experience with authoritarian rule may, in turn, have hindered the development of such rules.
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spelling nottingham-14522020-05-04T20:24:02Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1452/ The failure of democracy in Turkey: a comparative analysis McLaren, Lauren M. Cop, Burak Although Turkey took its initial steps toward establishing democracy in 1950, it has thus far failed to become a fully functioning democracy. Using the comparison cases of Spain and Greece, this paper discusses two related variables that are likely to have thwarted the development of full democracy in Turkey: (1) experience with authoritarian rule and (2) elite settlement or convergence toward acceptance of the democratic rules of the game. The paper ultimately contends that despite the EU’s attempt to push Turkey towards full democracy in the modern day it is unlikely that Turkey will become a fully functioning democracy until it manages to achieve civilian elite agreement regarding the rules of the Turkish democratic game, and that Turkey’s experience with authoritarian rule may, in turn, have hindered the development of such rules. Wiley-Blackwell 2011 Article PeerReviewed McLaren, Lauren M. and Cop, Burak (2011) The failure of democracy in Turkey: a comparative analysis. Government and Opposition, 46 (4). pp. 485-516. ISSN 0017-257X http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1477-7053.2011.01344.x/pdf doi:10.1111/j.1477-7053.2011.01344.x doi:10.1111/j.1477-7053.2011.01344.x
spellingShingle McLaren, Lauren M.
Cop, Burak
The failure of democracy in Turkey: a comparative analysis
title The failure of democracy in Turkey: a comparative analysis
title_full The failure of democracy in Turkey: a comparative analysis
title_fullStr The failure of democracy in Turkey: a comparative analysis
title_full_unstemmed The failure of democracy in Turkey: a comparative analysis
title_short The failure of democracy in Turkey: a comparative analysis
title_sort failure of democracy in turkey: a comparative analysis
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1452/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1452/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1452/