Browsing by Subject "Political Parties"

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Open Access
Political engagement patterns of Islamist movements : the case of the Nizam
(2011) Sezgin, İpek Gencel
Focusing on the Nizam/Selamet Movement, this dissertation studies why and how there are variations in the political engagement patterns of “moderate” Islamist movements operating within the same institutional/political context. Specifically, covering a period from the 1960s through the 1970s, this study examines why and how the Nizam/Selamet Movement emerged and established a political party; produced goals and ideational elements distinct from contemporary and past Islamist movements in Turkey and showed considerable flexibility in its choice of allies, strategies and policies, including formation of a coalition government with the archenemy of the Islamists, the Republican People’s Party. Drawing on the Nizam/Selamet case, this study argues that Islamist movements are complex social phenomena that emerge and survive through an incremental process entailing interacting, complex and even undetermined sets of cognitive, relational and environmental factors. The answer to the research question thus lies in unearthing these configurations through descending up and down the macro (political field), meso (network and organization) and micro (properties and trajectories of the movement elites and activists) echelons at both national and local levels of the political field and the movement. A historical dimension is also necessary to highlight intra- and extra-movement factors at different life phases of the movement (accumulated resources and inherited constraints), which shape the form and substance of its political engagement; and to take into consideration the influence of one stage over the other.
Open Access
Why do political parties split? : understanding part splits and formation of splinter parties in Turkey
(2014) Demirkol, Özhan
The process of splinter party formation has been understudied. This is related with the difficulties in studying the intraparty realm of politics and the inability of the splinter parties to turn into successful competitors. Employing an actor-oriented approach, this study traces the reasons behind splits in mainstream parties and formation of splinter parties. It intends to develop a theoretical model for explaining party splits in Turkey. It is asserted that party split is one of the possible outcomes of the competition between the dissenting faction and the dominant faction supporting the party leader. This outcome is preceded by two stages: dissent, and intraparty conflict. Strategies developed by dissenting faction and the party leader’s response are conditioned by a number of endogenous and exogenous factors. Endogenous factors include the nature of disagreement, relative power of competing factions across the different layers of party organization and leadership autonomy. Exogenous factors include the costs of forming a new party and the perceived viability for a new party. Splinter party is formed in case the dissident faction that departs from the parent organization chooses to invest on a new party rather than switching to an established party. The model proposed in this dissertation is illustrated by a comparative analysis of five cases of party splits in Turkish party system since the transition to democracy in 1946. The political parties that are analyzed within the scope of this study include the Democrat Party, the Republican People’s Party, the Justice Party, the True Path Party and the Democratic Left Party. The analysis reveals that endogenous factors are more influential over party splits compared to the exogenous factors. Moreover, in case the dissidents are unlikely to voice within the party platforms, they might simply resign without voice.