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Voter Religiosity Promoting Party-Voter Congruence on the ‘Super Issue’ in Turkey

Year 2021, Volume: 25 Issue: Özel Sayı, 271 - 289, 29.11.2021
https://doi.org/10.53487/ataunisosbil.826603

Abstract

This research was set out to explore empirically party-voter congruence on the
‘super issue’ of Left-Right (L-R) ideological positioning from a responsiveness perspective in
Turkey. It aims to reveal the extent political parties respond to voters’ movement in the ideological
spectrum and the role of voter religiosity in determining the magnitude of this response. This
research covers a period exceeding half a century consisting past eighteen general elections held
between 1950 and 2018. It combines party-level and individual-level data acquired from Manifesto
Project (MP) and World Values Survey (WVS) datasets respectively. Findings suggest that voter
religiosity plays an important role in maintaining party-voter ideological correspondence in
Turkey. The level of voter religiosity determines the extent political parties align themselves with
their own voters’ ideological preference as well as dealign themselves from that of the most voted
rival political party voters. 

References

  • Achen, C. H. (1978). Measuring representation. American Journal of Political Science, 475-510. Akarca, A. T., & Tansel, A. (2007). Social and economic determinants of Turkish voter choice in the 1995 parliamentary election. Electoral Studies, 26(3), 633-647. Aldrich, J. H., & McKelvey, R. D. (1977). A Method of Scaling with Applications to the 1968 and 1972 Presidential Elections. American Political Science Review, 71(1), 111-130. Alvarez, S. E. (2018). Cultures of politics/politics of cultures: Revisioning Latin American social movements. Routledge. Bakker, R., Jolly, S., & Polk, J. (2012). Complexity in the European party space: Exploring dimensionality with experts. European Union Politics, 13(2), 219-245. Belchior, A. M. (2013). Explaining left–right party congruence across European party systems: a test of micro-, meso-, and macro-level models. Comparative Political Studies, 46(3), 352-386. Benoit, K., & Laver, M. (2006). Party policy in modern democracies. Routledge. Benoit, K., & Laver, M. (2007). Benchmarks for text analysis: A response to Budge and Pennings. Electoral Studies, 26(1), 130-135. Benoit, K., Laver, M., Arnold, C., Pennings, P., & Hosli, M. O. (2005). Measuring national delegate positions at the convention on the future of Europe using computerized word scoring. European Union Politics, 6(3), 291-313. Blais, A., & Bodet, M. A. (2006). Does proportional representation foster closer congruence between citizens and policy makers?. Comparative Political Studies, 39(10), 1243-1262. Brooks, C., & Manza, J. (2006). Social policy responsiveness in developed democracies. American Sociological Review, 71(3), 474-494. Budge, I., Robertson, D., Derek, H., & Hearl, D. (Eds.). (1987). Ideology, strategy and party change: spatial analyses of post-war election programmes in 19 democracies. Cambridge University Press. Budge, I., & Hofferbert, R. I. (1990). Mandates and policy outputs: US party platforms and federal expenditures. American Political Science Review, 84(1), 111-131. Budge, I., Klingemann, H. D., Volkens, A., Bara, J., & Tanenbaum, E. (2001). Mapping policy preferences: estimates for parties, electors, and governments, 1945- 1998 (Vol. 1). Oxford University Press on Demand. Busch, K. B. (2016). Estimating parties' left-right positions: Determinants of voters' perceptions' proximity to party ideology. Electoral studies, 41, 159-178. Castles, F. G. (1982). Left-right political scales: Some'expert'judgements. Converse, P. E., & Pierce, R. (1986). Political representation in France. Harvard University Press. Costello, R., Thomassen, J., & Rosema, M. (2012). European parliament elections and political representation: policy congruence between voters and parties. West European Politics, 35(6), 1226-1248. Çarkoğlu, A. (2007). The nature of left–right ideological self‐placement in the Turkish context. Turkish Studies, 8(2), 253-271. Çarkoğlu, A. (2012). Economic evaluations vs. ideology: Diagnosing the sources of electoral change in Turkey, 2002–2011. Electoral Studies, 31(3), 513-521. Çarkoğlu, A., & Hinich, M. J. (2006). A spatial analysis of Turkish party preferences. Electoral Studies, 25(2), 369-392. Çarkoğlu, A., & Kalaycıoğlu, E. (2009). Türkiye'de dindarlık: uluslararası bir karşılaştırma. Çarkoğlu, A., & Toprak, B. (2007). Religion, society and politics in a changing Turkey. Tesev. Dalton, R. J. (1985). Political parties and political representation: Party supporters and party elites in nine nations. Comparative political studies, 18(3), 267-299. Gabel, M. J., & Huber, J. D. (2000). Putting parties in their place: Inferring party leftright ideological positions from party manifestos data. American Journal of Political Science, 94-103. Gay, C. (2000). The Impact of Black Congressional Representation on Political Attitudes. Department of Political Science. Stanford University. Typescript. Geser, H. (2008). The limits of ideological globalization. Current patterns of" left and right" in different geographical regions. Sociology in Switzerland: World Society and International Relations, (5). Golder, M., & Stramski, J. (2007, September). Ideological congruence and two visions of democracy. In Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, Chicago. Golder, M., & Stramski, J. (2010). Ideological congruence and electoral institutions. American Journal of Political Science, 54(1), 90-106. Gibbs, A. K. (2005). Religiosity and Voting Behavior. McKendree University Scholastic Journal. Heper, M. (1985). The state tradition in Turkey. Eothen Press Huber, J., & Inglehart, R. (1995). Expert interpretations of party space and party locations in 42 societies. Party politics, 1(1), 73-111. Huber, J. D., & Powell, G. B. (1994). Congruence between citizens and policymakers in two visions of liberal democracy. World Politics, 46(3), 291-326. Inkeles, A., & Smith, D. H. (1975). Becoming modern: Individual change in developing societies. İnan, M. (2020). Party-voter congruence in Turkish politics: the ivory tower argument tested. Parliaments, Estates and Representation, 40(1), 97-117. Inglehart, R., & Klingemann, H. D. (1976). Party identification, ideological preference and the left-right dimension among Western mass publics. Party identification and beyond, 243-273. Inkeles, A., & Smith, D. H. (1974). Becoming modern: Individual change in six developing countries. Kalaycioğlu, E. (2008). Attitudinal orientation to party organizations in Turkey in the 2000s. Turkish Studies, 9(2), 297-316. Keyman, E. F. (2007). Modernity, secularism and Islam: The case of Turkey. Theory, culture & society, 24(2), 215-234. Keyman, E. F., & Içduygu, A. (2005). Citizenship, identity, and the question of democracy in Turkey. Citizenship in a global world: European questions and Turkish experiences, 1-27. Kim, H., & Fording, R. C. (1998). Voter ideology in Western democracies, 1946– 1989. European Journal of Political Research, 33(1), 73-97. Kim, H., & Fording, R. C. (2002). Government partisanship in Western democracies, 1945–1998. European Journal of Political Research, 41(2), 187-206. Klingemann, H. D., & Wessels, B. (2002). Sincere voting in different electoral systems. Unpublished manuscript, Wissenschaftzentrum Berlin fur Sozialforschung. Kollman, K., Miller, J. H., & Page, S. E. (1992). Adaptive parties in spatial elections. American Political Science Review, 86(4), 929-937. Laver, M., Benoit, K., & Garry, J. (2003). Extracting policy positions from political texts using words as data. American political science review, 97(2), 311-331. Laver, M. J., & Budge, I. (1992). Measuring policy distances and modelling coalition formation. In Party policy and government coalitions (pp. 15-40). Palgrave Macmillan, London. Lerner, D. (1958). The passing of traditional society: Modernizing the Middle East. Lipset, S. M. (1961). 'Working-Class Authoritarianism': A Reply to Miller and Riessman. The British Journal of Sociology, 12(3), 277-281. Mardin, Ş. (1973). Center-periphery relations: A key to Turkish politics? Daedalus, 169- 190. McDonald, M. D., & Budge, I. (2005). Elections, parties, democracy: Conferring the median mandate. Oxford University Press on Demand. McDonald, M. D., Mendes, S. M., & Budge, I. (2004). What are elections for? Conferring the median mandate. British Journal of Political Science, 34(1), 1-26. Miller, W. E., Pierce, R., Thomassen, J., Herrera, R., Esaisson, P., Holmberg, S., & Webels, B. (1999). Policy representation in Western democracies. Oxford University Press on Demand. Önnudóttir, E. H. (2014). Policy congruence and style of representation: Party voters and political parties. West European Politics, 37(3), 538-563. Özbudun, E. (1975). Türkiye'de sosyal değişme ve siyasal katılma (No. 363). Ankara Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi. Özbudun, E. (1981). The Turkish party system: institutionalization, polarization, and fragmentation. Middle Eastern Studies, 17(2), 228-240. Palfrey, T. R., & Poole, K. T. (1987). The relationship between information, ideology, and voting behavior. American journal of political science, 511-530. Poole, K. T. (1998). Recovering a basic space from a set of issue scales. American Journal of Political Science, 954-993. Poole, K. T., & Rosenthal, H. (1985). A spatial model for legislative roll call analysis. American journal of political science, 357-384. Powell Jr, G. B. (2004). Political representation in comparative politics. Annu. Rev. Polit. Sci., 7, 273-296. Powell, G. B. (2006). Election laws and representative governments: Beyond votes and seats. British Journal of Political Science, 36(2), 291-315. Powell G. B. (2009). The ideological congruence controversy: The impact of alternative measures, data, and time periods on the effects of election rules. Comparative Political Studies, 42(12), 1475-1497. Powell Jr, G. B., & Vanberg, G. S. (2000). Election laws, disproportionality and median correspondence: Implications for two visions of democracy. British Journal of Political Science, 30(3), 383-411. Rae, D. W. (1967). The political consequences of electoral laws. new Haven: yale university Press. Raymond, C. (2011). The continued salience of religious voting in the United States, Germany, and Great Britain. Electoral studies, 30(1), 125-135. Rivero, C. G. (2004). Testing the left-right continuum in Africa. presentation to the. Sayari, S. (1978). The Turkish party system in transition. Government and Opposition, 13(1), 39-57. Soroka, S. N., & Wlezien, C. (2010). Degrees of democracy: Politics, public opinion, and policy. Cambridge University Press. Thomassen, J. J., Schmitt, H., & Thomassen, J. (1999). Political representation and legitimacy in the European Union. Oxford University Press on Demand. Van der Eijk, C. (2001). Measuring agreement in ordered rating scales. Quality and Quantity, 35(3), 325-341. Wlezien, C. (2004). Patterns of representation: Dynamics of public preferences and policy. The Journal of Politics, 66(1), 1-2

Voter Religiosity Promoting Party-Voter Congruence on the ‘Super Issue’ in Turkey

Year 2021, Volume: 25 Issue: Özel Sayı, 271 - 289, 29.11.2021
https://doi.org/10.53487/ataunisosbil.826603

Abstract

Bu araştırma Türkiye'de Sol-Sağ ideolojik konumlanma ‘süper meselesine’ ilişkin partiseçmen uyumunu cevap verebilirlik perspektifinden ampirik olarak araştırmak için yapılmıştır.
Çalışma siyasi partilerin seçmenlerin ideolojik yelpazedeki hareketlerine ne ölçüde cevap
verdiğini ve bu cevabın büyüklüğünü belirlemede seçmen dindarlığının rolünü ortaya koymayı
amaçlamaktadır. Bu araştırma, 1950 ile 2018 yılları arasında yapılan on sekiz genel seçimden
oluşan yarım asrı aşan bir dönemi kapsamaktadır. Araştırma sırasıyla Manifesto Projesi ve Dünya
Değerler Araştırması veri setlerinden elde edilen parti düzeyinde ve bireysel düzeydeki verileri
birleştirmektedir. Bulgular Türkiye'de parti-seçmen ideolojik uyumunun sağlanmasında seçmen
dindarlığının önemli bir rol oynadığını göstermektedir. Seçmen dindarlığı düzeyi siyasi partilerin
kendi seçmenlerinin ideolojik tercihlerine ne ölçüde uyum sağladığını ve aynı zamanda en çok oy
alan rakip siyasi parti seçmenlerininkinden ne ölçüde uyumsuzlaştığını belirlemektedir.

References

  • Achen, C. H. (1978). Measuring representation. American Journal of Political Science, 475-510. Akarca, A. T., & Tansel, A. (2007). Social and economic determinants of Turkish voter choice in the 1995 parliamentary election. Electoral Studies, 26(3), 633-647. Aldrich, J. H., & McKelvey, R. D. (1977). A Method of Scaling with Applications to the 1968 and 1972 Presidential Elections. American Political Science Review, 71(1), 111-130. Alvarez, S. E. (2018). Cultures of politics/politics of cultures: Revisioning Latin American social movements. Routledge. Bakker, R., Jolly, S., & Polk, J. (2012). Complexity in the European party space: Exploring dimensionality with experts. European Union Politics, 13(2), 219-245. Belchior, A. M. (2013). Explaining left–right party congruence across European party systems: a test of micro-, meso-, and macro-level models. Comparative Political Studies, 46(3), 352-386. Benoit, K., & Laver, M. (2006). Party policy in modern democracies. Routledge. Benoit, K., & Laver, M. (2007). Benchmarks for text analysis: A response to Budge and Pennings. Electoral Studies, 26(1), 130-135. Benoit, K., Laver, M., Arnold, C., Pennings, P., & Hosli, M. O. (2005). Measuring national delegate positions at the convention on the future of Europe using computerized word scoring. European Union Politics, 6(3), 291-313. Blais, A., & Bodet, M. A. (2006). Does proportional representation foster closer congruence between citizens and policy makers?. Comparative Political Studies, 39(10), 1243-1262. Brooks, C., & Manza, J. (2006). Social policy responsiveness in developed democracies. American Sociological Review, 71(3), 474-494. Budge, I., Robertson, D., Derek, H., & Hearl, D. (Eds.). (1987). Ideology, strategy and party change: spatial analyses of post-war election programmes in 19 democracies. Cambridge University Press. Budge, I., & Hofferbert, R. I. (1990). Mandates and policy outputs: US party platforms and federal expenditures. American Political Science Review, 84(1), 111-131. Budge, I., Klingemann, H. D., Volkens, A., Bara, J., & Tanenbaum, E. (2001). Mapping policy preferences: estimates for parties, electors, and governments, 1945- 1998 (Vol. 1). Oxford University Press on Demand. Busch, K. B. (2016). Estimating parties' left-right positions: Determinants of voters' perceptions' proximity to party ideology. Electoral studies, 41, 159-178. Castles, F. G. (1982). Left-right political scales: Some'expert'judgements. Converse, P. E., & Pierce, R. (1986). Political representation in France. Harvard University Press. Costello, R., Thomassen, J., & Rosema, M. (2012). European parliament elections and political representation: policy congruence between voters and parties. West European Politics, 35(6), 1226-1248. Çarkoğlu, A. (2007). The nature of left–right ideological self‐placement in the Turkish context. Turkish Studies, 8(2), 253-271. Çarkoğlu, A. (2012). Economic evaluations vs. ideology: Diagnosing the sources of electoral change in Turkey, 2002–2011. Electoral Studies, 31(3), 513-521. Çarkoğlu, A., & Hinich, M. J. (2006). A spatial analysis of Turkish party preferences. Electoral Studies, 25(2), 369-392. Çarkoğlu, A., & Kalaycıoğlu, E. (2009). Türkiye'de dindarlık: uluslararası bir karşılaştırma. Çarkoğlu, A., & Toprak, B. (2007). Religion, society and politics in a changing Turkey. Tesev. Dalton, R. J. (1985). Political parties and political representation: Party supporters and party elites in nine nations. Comparative political studies, 18(3), 267-299. Gabel, M. J., & Huber, J. D. (2000). Putting parties in their place: Inferring party leftright ideological positions from party manifestos data. American Journal of Political Science, 94-103. Gay, C. (2000). The Impact of Black Congressional Representation on Political Attitudes. Department of Political Science. Stanford University. Typescript. Geser, H. (2008). The limits of ideological globalization. Current patterns of" left and right" in different geographical regions. Sociology in Switzerland: World Society and International Relations, (5). Golder, M., & Stramski, J. (2007, September). Ideological congruence and two visions of democracy. In Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, Chicago. Golder, M., & Stramski, J. (2010). Ideological congruence and electoral institutions. American Journal of Political Science, 54(1), 90-106. Gibbs, A. K. (2005). Religiosity and Voting Behavior. McKendree University Scholastic Journal. Heper, M. (1985). The state tradition in Turkey. Eothen Press Huber, J., & Inglehart, R. (1995). Expert interpretations of party space and party locations in 42 societies. Party politics, 1(1), 73-111. Huber, J. D., & Powell, G. B. (1994). Congruence between citizens and policymakers in two visions of liberal democracy. World Politics, 46(3), 291-326. Inkeles, A., & Smith, D. H. (1975). Becoming modern: Individual change in developing societies. İnan, M. (2020). Party-voter congruence in Turkish politics: the ivory tower argument tested. Parliaments, Estates and Representation, 40(1), 97-117. Inglehart, R., & Klingemann, H. D. (1976). Party identification, ideological preference and the left-right dimension among Western mass publics. Party identification and beyond, 243-273. Inkeles, A., & Smith, D. H. (1974). Becoming modern: Individual change in six developing countries. Kalaycioğlu, E. (2008). Attitudinal orientation to party organizations in Turkey in the 2000s. Turkish Studies, 9(2), 297-316. Keyman, E. F. (2007). Modernity, secularism and Islam: The case of Turkey. Theory, culture & society, 24(2), 215-234. Keyman, E. F., & Içduygu, A. (2005). Citizenship, identity, and the question of democracy in Turkey. Citizenship in a global world: European questions and Turkish experiences, 1-27. Kim, H., & Fording, R. C. (1998). Voter ideology in Western democracies, 1946– 1989. European Journal of Political Research, 33(1), 73-97. Kim, H., & Fording, R. C. (2002). Government partisanship in Western democracies, 1945–1998. European Journal of Political Research, 41(2), 187-206. Klingemann, H. D., & Wessels, B. (2002). Sincere voting in different electoral systems. Unpublished manuscript, Wissenschaftzentrum Berlin fur Sozialforschung. Kollman, K., Miller, J. H., & Page, S. E. (1992). Adaptive parties in spatial elections. American Political Science Review, 86(4), 929-937. Laver, M., Benoit, K., & Garry, J. (2003). Extracting policy positions from political texts using words as data. American political science review, 97(2), 311-331. Laver, M. J., & Budge, I. (1992). Measuring policy distances and modelling coalition formation. In Party policy and government coalitions (pp. 15-40). Palgrave Macmillan, London. Lerner, D. (1958). The passing of traditional society: Modernizing the Middle East. Lipset, S. M. (1961). 'Working-Class Authoritarianism': A Reply to Miller and Riessman. The British Journal of Sociology, 12(3), 277-281. Mardin, Ş. (1973). Center-periphery relations: A key to Turkish politics? Daedalus, 169- 190. McDonald, M. D., & Budge, I. (2005). Elections, parties, democracy: Conferring the median mandate. Oxford University Press on Demand. McDonald, M. D., Mendes, S. M., & Budge, I. (2004). What are elections for? Conferring the median mandate. British Journal of Political Science, 34(1), 1-26. Miller, W. E., Pierce, R., Thomassen, J., Herrera, R., Esaisson, P., Holmberg, S., & Webels, B. (1999). Policy representation in Western democracies. Oxford University Press on Demand. Önnudóttir, E. H. (2014). Policy congruence and style of representation: Party voters and political parties. West European Politics, 37(3), 538-563. Özbudun, E. (1975). Türkiye'de sosyal değişme ve siyasal katılma (No. 363). Ankara Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi. Özbudun, E. (1981). The Turkish party system: institutionalization, polarization, and fragmentation. Middle Eastern Studies, 17(2), 228-240. Palfrey, T. R., & Poole, K. T. (1987). The relationship between information, ideology, and voting behavior. American journal of political science, 511-530. Poole, K. T. (1998). Recovering a basic space from a set of issue scales. American Journal of Political Science, 954-993. Poole, K. T., & Rosenthal, H. (1985). A spatial model for legislative roll call analysis. American journal of political science, 357-384. Powell Jr, G. B. (2004). Political representation in comparative politics. Annu. Rev. Polit. Sci., 7, 273-296. Powell, G. B. (2006). Election laws and representative governments: Beyond votes and seats. British Journal of Political Science, 36(2), 291-315. Powell G. B. (2009). The ideological congruence controversy: The impact of alternative measures, data, and time periods on the effects of election rules. Comparative Political Studies, 42(12), 1475-1497. Powell Jr, G. B., & Vanberg, G. S. (2000). Election laws, disproportionality and median correspondence: Implications for two visions of democracy. British Journal of Political Science, 30(3), 383-411. Rae, D. W. (1967). The political consequences of electoral laws. new Haven: yale university Press. Raymond, C. (2011). The continued salience of religious voting in the United States, Germany, and Great Britain. Electoral studies, 30(1), 125-135. Rivero, C. G. (2004). Testing the left-right continuum in Africa. presentation to the. Sayari, S. (1978). The Turkish party system in transition. Government and Opposition, 13(1), 39-57. Soroka, S. N., & Wlezien, C. (2010). Degrees of democracy: Politics, public opinion, and policy. Cambridge University Press. Thomassen, J. J., Schmitt, H., & Thomassen, J. (1999). Political representation and legitimacy in the European Union. Oxford University Press on Demand. Van der Eijk, C. (2001). Measuring agreement in ordered rating scales. Quality and Quantity, 35(3), 325-341. Wlezien, C. (2004). Patterns of representation: Dynamics of public preferences and policy. The Journal of Politics, 66(1), 1-2
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Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Makaleler
Authors

Murat İnan 0000-0001-7554-6217

Publication Date November 29, 2021
Published in Issue Year 2021 Volume: 25 Issue: Özel Sayı

Cite

APA İnan, M. (2021). Voter Religiosity Promoting Party-Voter Congruence on the ‘Super Issue’ in Turkey. Atatürk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 25(Özel Sayı), 271-289. https://doi.org/10.53487/ataunisosbil.826603

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