From delegative democracy to competitive authoritarism; the place of Turkish democracy between “democracy with adjectives” and “authoritarian regimes with adjectives”

Year 2022, Volume: 80 Issue: 3, 103 - 139, 25.08.2022

Muhammet Derviş Mete

https://doi.org/10.30915/abd.1159140

Abstract

There is a global erosion in the standards and quality of democracy. Regrettably and undoubtedly, this situation shows itself in Turkey as well. Despite the severe criticisms that Turkish democracy has received, studies on the place of Turkish democracy among world democracies are limited. Turkish democracy was considered to be a delegative democracy in the sense that it has not been consolidated and has failed to become institutionalized. It is an evident example of majoritarian democracy. On the other hand, there is competition when it comes to Competitive Authoritarianism. Yet, the competition is real but not fair in these regimes. Despite this uneven playing field, there is still a risk of losing elections for the government, which differs from authoritarian regimes in this respect. In this study, we plan to examine Turkey's oscillation between the pendulums of delegative democracy and competitive authoritarianism.

Keywords

democracy with adjectives, democratic standard, delegative democracy, competitive authoritarianism, Turkish style presidential system

Delegasyoncu Demokrasiden Yarışmacı Otoriterizme; Türk Demokrasisinin “Sıfatlı Demokrasiler” ve “Sıfatlı Otoriter Rejimler” Arasındaki Yeri

Abstract

Demokrasi standartlarında ve kalitesinde her geçen gün global düzeyde bir erozyon yaşanmakta. Şüphesiz bu durum Türkiye’de de kendisini göstermekte. Aldığı ciddi eleştirilere rağmen, Türk demokrasisinin dünya demokrasileri arasındaki yerine ilişkin yapılan çalışmalar oldukça sınırlı düzeydedir. Türk demokrasisi, uzunca bir süre kendisine delegasyoncu demokrasiler arasında yer bulmakta idi. Bir “sıfatlı demokrasi” olan delegasyoncu demokrasi, pekişmemiş ve kurumsallaşmayı başaramamış demokrasilerdir. Çoğunlukçu demokrasinin bariz bir örneğidir. Öte yandan yarışmacı otoriterizmde ise bir yarış söz konusudur. Yarışma gerçektir ancak adil değildir. Bu eşitsiz ortama rağmen yine de seçimlerin kaybedilme riski vardır. Bu yönüyle yarışmacı otoriterizm, otoriter rejimlerden ayrılır. Bu çalışmada Türkiye’nin delegasyoncu demokrasi ve yarışmacı otoriterizm sarkaçları arasındaki salınımını irdelemeyi planlıyoruz.

Keywords

sıfatlı demokrasiler, demokratik standart, delegasyoncu demokrasi, yarışmacı otoriterizm, Türk usulü başkanlık sistemi

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