Browsing by Subject "Authoritarianism"
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Item Open Access Medicalization discourse and modernity: contested meanings over childbirth in contemporary Turkey(Taylor & Francis Inc., 2010) Cindoglu, D.; Cengiz, F. S.In this article, we explore the increasing medicalization of birth and the surge in Caesarean sections in order to examine how this phenomenon relates to the dominant modernization discourse on women's lives in contemporary Turkey. We analyze women's modes of resistance and conformity to medicalization of birth through qualitative data from 15 focus groups of Turkish women as well as from physicians and midwives. We found out that Turkish women generally submit to medicalized birth, despite unpleasent experiences of hospital birth. We argue that the discourse of modernization and traditional patriarchy both play a role in women's submission to medicalization of birth; and we demonstrate the patterns through which these discourses collaborate in establishing the meaning of childbirth in Turkey. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.Item Open Access Protest by the people for the government: pro-government mobilization in AKP’s Turkey, 2013-2016(Bilkent University, 2022-09) Kahvecioğlu, Şeref AnılThis dissertation explores the protest dynamics of government supporters under the authoritarian Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP) government in Turkey. Analyzing contentious dynamics from January 1, 2013 until December 31, 2016, this thesis examines pro-government mobilization theoretically and empirically. Based on original event data on protests, repression, and pro-government contentious events I collected from two newspapers, Cumhuriyet and Yeni Şafak, with 9083 episodes, this research dissects contentious actions of government supporters and aims to explain why and how such mobilization practice occurred in Turkey. To provide a systematic answer, I offer three elements that generate a conducive environment for pro-government contention: threat, authoritarianism, and framing. On this basis, first, I suggest threat as the main component that drives governments to adopt pro-government contention. In my case, I argue that the AKP appeals to pro-government contention when it feels politically threatened. Second, I show that the mobilizing power of the threat—and its capacity to generate pro-government contention—is dependent on the regime type. Therefore, I argue that political threats could generate pro-government contention as the AKP became gradually more authoritarian, and such contention was absent during its democratic phases. Finally, I suggest that governments build frames of pro-government contention, and not government supporters. I argue that the AKP utilizes various framing tools to create a conducive environment for mobilizing pro-government audiences and such frames are reflected in the street by government supporters.Item Open Access Rising competitive authoritarianism in Turkey(Routledge, 2016) Esen, B.; Gümüşçü, S.Since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002 Turkey has undergone double regime transitions. First, tutelary democracy ended; second, a competitive authoritarian regime has risen in its stead. We substantiate this assertion with specific and detailed evidence from 2015 election cycles, as well as from broader trends in Turkish politics. This evidence indeed confirms that elections are no longer fair; civil liberties are being systematically violated; and the playing field is highly skewed in favour of the ruling AKP. The June 2015 election results and their aftermath further confirm that Turkey has evolved into a competitive authoritarian regime. © 2016 Southseries Inc., www.thirdworldquarterly.com.Item Open Access Signaling silence: Affective and cognitive responses to risks of online activism about corruption in an authoritarian context(SAGE Publications Ltd, 2022) Dal, Ayşenur; Nisbet, Erik C.; Kamenchuk, OlgaNetworked authoritarian governments’ use of digital repression creates uncertainty and amplifies risk signals for ordinary citizens using social media for political expression. Employing theoretical frameworks from the risk and decision-making literature, we experimentally examine how citizens perceive and respond to the risks of low-effort forms of online activism in an authoritarian context. Our online field experiment demonstrates that emotional responses to the regime’s risk signals about online activism drive decision-making about contentious online political expression as compared with cognitive appraisal of risk. Moreover, the relationship between anticipatory emotions and contentious online political expression varies significantly depending on individuals’ involvement with the controversial topic of expression. We discuss the importance of emotions and citizen risk judgments for understanding online activism within networked authoritarian contexts.Item Open Access Signaling silence: Affective and cognitive responses to risks of online activism about corruption in an authoritarian context(SAGE, 2022) Dal, Ayşenur; Nisbet, E. C.; Kamenchuk, O.Networked authoritarian governments’ use of digital repression creates uncertainty and amplifies risk signals for ordinary citizens using social media for political expression. Employing theoretical frameworks from the risk and decision-making literature, we experimentally examine how citizens perceive and respond to the risks of low-effort forms of online activism in an authoritarian context. Our online field experiment demonstrates that emotional responses to the regime’s risk signals about online activism drive decisionmaking about contentious online political expression as compared with cognitive appraisal of risk. Moreover, the relationship between anticipatory emotions and contentious online political expression varies significantly depending on individuals’ involvement with the controversial topic of expression. We discuss the importance of emotions and citizen risk judgments for understanding online activism within networked authoritarian contexts.Item Open Access A small yes for presidentialism: the Turkish constitutional referendum of April 2017(Routledge, 2017) Esen, B.; Gümüşçü, Ş.Following four elections in three years, on 16 April 2017 Turkish voters once again went to the polls - this time under the emergency law established after the failed coup attempt of July 2016 - to vote on constitutional amendments aimed at replacing the existing parliamentary system with an executive presidency. This article reviews the content of the proposed constitutional amendments, analyses the campaign including the strategies employed by the main political actors in the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ camps and the resource advantages enjoyed by the ruling party, assesses the electoral performance of both sides through a summary of results from provincial areas and geographical regions, and considers how Turkish politics are likely to take shape under the new system. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.Item Open Access Turkey’s withdrawal from Istanbul Convention: International human rights regime vis-à-vis authoritarian survival(Routledge, 2023-09-27) Bayar, TuğbaThis article traces the raison d’être for Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention. It draws upon two bodies of literature: international human rights regimes (IHRR) and authoritarian survival strategies. The Turkish government faced an electoral defeat in local elections 2019, which represented a serious challenge to the ruling party. To compensate for its loss of power and to consolidate its voter base, the government took some steps for its political survival. This article argues that the dynamics of the withdrawal from the Convention lay primarily behind the authoritarian survival strategies of centralization, legitimation, and repression, and secondarily behind the issue area of the Convention as an international human rights regime.