As a politician who introduced social democracy to Turkey in the 1960s under the name of left of center policy and later in the 1970s as democratic left policy Bülent Ecevit opened a new phase in Turkish politics. The content of his political views and whether these views have changed during this long journey in politics or not have become matters of debate. The evolution of Ecevit' s policies over the years is the major focus of this thesis. In order to explain how his policies have evolved, I examine and compare his views and his actions regarding socio-economic issues, democracy, the military, nationalism and religion from the 1960s to the 2000s. In this study I also point out that his people-oriented policies, his notion of the supremacy of democracy in every sphere, his peaceful but nationalist foreign relations, and his humanistic approach towards ethnic and religious issues, together draw a picture of a unique left-oriented politician. As a politician who pursues democratic left policy, his adaptation to a market economy starting in the 1990s, has been one of the major issues of discussion in the iiiTurkish political arena. In this context, his new stance on socioeconomic issues, his belief in social harmony, his attitude towards the private sector after he came to the power in 1999, his social security reforms, realization of his Village-Town project, his approach towards international finance organizations, foreign investment and, his stance regarding the EU are some of the matters that are discussed in this work. Ecevit's views regarding democracy, the military, nationalism and religion have not differed much over the years yet long years of experience have contributed a lot to his policies in these domains. The essence of his views and a clear indication of how experience has affected his views are analyzed in depth. Finally, I have come to the conclusion that the ideological content of his views has always contained pragmatism; therefore I strongly believe that he exhibits a principled pragmatism rather than a radical change in his political views and that has been the reason for his endurance in politics.