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The emergence and consolidation of the AKP and its impact on Turkish politics and society
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Bermek, Sevinç (2012) The emergence and consolidation of the AKP and its impact on Turkish politics and society. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
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Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b2684717~S1
Abstract
This thesis concerns the current ruling party, the AKP (Adalet ve Kalkınma
Partisi - Justice and Development Party) in Turkey. Its aim is to examine the
emergence and consolidation of the AKP, as well as to determine whether or not
this has shaped the evolution of the party system in Turkey. This research draws
on a qualitative research approach, through interviews with 36 key informants
from political parties, NGOs, grassroots organizations and through gathering
data in the literature produced by parties and other statutory and voluntary
agencies, as well as through the collection of descriptive statististics related to
socio-economic structures, migration, occupational categories, macroeconomic
indicators and collections of election surveys.
The finding reveal that the AKP did not emerge as an Islamist party, but because
of its promises of economic stability and growth, and of further integration into
the EU and USA-led global order. The thesis shows that more so than its
religious discourse, the AKP’s electoral success was based on the party’s
adapting a hybrid, progressive and pro-EU position during its first tenure in
government. Second, this research demonstrates how the political conjuncture up
to 2002 and long-term economic factors provided favourable circumstances for
the AKP’s emergence.
The study’s findings also reveal that the consolidation of the AKP is mainly
attributable to its economic and social agenda, and the utilization of the public
purse and other state resources (e.g. social and health care benefits) as a means
of catering for its target constituencies. In addition, they demonstrate that once
AKP’s consolidation was completed (2010) the party’s discourse gradually
became more conservative and nationalist, giving way to more authoritarian
policies. Nonetheless, as long as economic performance and conditions remain
unchanged, the AKP continues to appeal to its social base. Consequently, this
thesis demonstrates that the gradual drift in Turkish society towards moderate
Islamic and traditional values was not the main factor in the AKP’s rise to
power. Rather, this shift can be viewed as the feedback effect of the
consolidation of the AKP process into societal structures and norms. Hence, this
work highlights the AKP’s impact on the structure of the party-system and the role of its policies in transforming Turkish society. Lastly, this study contributes
to the foundation upon which further research on Turkish politics and the party
system can continue, by exploring the dual effect of the AKP’s ruling tenure:
factors leading to the AKP’s emergence and its feedback into Turkish society
and politics.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
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Subjects: | J Political Science > JQ Political institutions (Asia, Africa, Australia, Pacific Area, etc.) | ||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | AK Parti (Turkey), Turkey -- Politics and government -- 1980-, Islam and politics -- Turkey, Liberalism -- Turkey | ||||
Official Date: | October 2012 | ||||
Dates: |
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Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | School of Health and Social Studies | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Joly, Danièle; Wadia, Khursheed | ||||
Extent: | 432 leaves. | ||||
Language: | eng |
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