Europeanization and devolution : centre-local relations in Turkey

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the impact of the EU accession process over the central and local levels of administration in Turkey from an institutionalist framework. The analytical tools of historical and sociological institutionalism are utilized in order to analyze whether Europeanization leads to devolution and the city of Kayseri constitutes the case through which the EU impact at the local level is determined. The main argument of the thesis is that although the EU accession process has created a demand at the local level in terms of changing the power relations with the centre, no institutional change has taken place so far in terms of devolution because of the mediating factors such as strong state tradition, lack of self-government culture and the political and historical context of the centre-local relations in the country and the central level managed to reproduce its power vis-à-vis the local political actors.