Browsing by Subject "democratization"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4

Open Access
The Arab Spring: A Game Changer in Turkey-EU Relations?
(2013) Dinçer O.B.; Kutlay, M.
We argue in this paper that the Arab Spring has opened a window of opportunity not just to create stability and democracy in one of the most unstable regions of the world, but also for revitalizing Turkey-EU relations. In theory, Turkey-EU cooperation can make a decisive difference in determining the outcome of the triangular relationship between stability, development, and democratization in the Arab region. In normative terms, as an opportunity, it must be turned into an advantage. From a practical perspective, however, transforming the window of opportunity into policy output is linked to the policy leadership of the sides involved to undergo a paradigm shift in their approach to the region and toward one another. © 2013 Taylor & Francis.
Open Access
In Between Democracy and Secularism: The Case of Turkish Civil Society
(2013) Cevik, S.; Tas H.
Since 2011, the Arab uprisings, signaling a new wave of political mobilization, have restored belief in the potential for civil society to make democratic openings. Nevertheless, the academic literature up to the present has attributed the enduring authoritarianism in the Middle East region to the weakness or dominantly Islamist nature of civil society and promoted the development of secular platforms. This article argues that the discussion about civil society is misplaced, and the democratic potential of civil society is not related to its being Islamic or secular, but rather to its attachment to the state. For this purpose, it examines the emergence of a secularist civil societal current in Turkey with special focus on one of its major manifestations, the Republic Rallies in 2007. © 2013 Copyright Editors of Middle East Critique.
Open Access
International dimension of democratization? the influence of the European Union on the consolidation of democracy in Turkey 1987-2002
(2003) Usul, Ali Resul
This thesis analyzes the European Union (EU)-Turkey relations with regard to democracy and human rights and particularly the EU’s impact on the consolidation of democracy in Turkey. Democracy in the Turkey has not been adequately consolidated. The problem of Turkish democracy is the problem of democratic consolidation in Turkey. In the thesis, I propose that the EU promotes Turkish democracy when it provides a full membership perspective to Turkey. In other words, the degree and nature EU’s influence on Turkish polity and politics is correlated with question of whether the EU gives Turkey a real membership perspective. In this respect, I have compared three significant periods of the EU-Turkey relations regarding democratic consolidation in Turkey. The EU’s impact in the first two periods was limited and quite modest in its nature. The EU has been an active leverage in the post-Helsinki period. In the post-Helsinki period, the pre-accession mechanism have made Turkey more vulnerable to the EU’s requirements and it has justified the EU’s interventions into Turkey’s domestic politics, which had been often regarded as breach of Turkey’s sovereignty in the pre-Helsinki period. Thus, domestic/international-internal/external differentiation in the context of EU-Turkey relations has become less salient within the post-Helsinki period. As far as the active leverage function of the EU is concerned, the EU’s impact had been mostly on the Constitutional level of consolidation in the period between 1987 and 2002.
Open Access
Reflections upon contemporary Turkish democracy : a Rawlsian perspective
(2009) Yıldız, Necip
In this dissertation, John Rawls’ ‘justice as fairness’ is applied to contemporary Turkey and used as a framework to reflect upon democratization process in Turkey. In order to substantiate how Rawls’ political liberalism and justice as fairness are related to democratization process in general, and to Turkish democratization in particular, first, the possible relations between Rawls’ conceptualization of ‘constitutional consensus,’ ‘overlapping consensus,’ and the basic concepts in the democratization literature are analyzed. It is argued that the initial stage of ‘constitutional consensus’ on democratic procedures (being only a modus vivendi) corresponds to ‘democratic transition.’ On the other hand, it is argued that the finalized stage of constitutional consensus corresponds to ‘minimalist’ and ‘negative’ democratic consolidation. Finally, it is claimed that ‘overlapping consensus’ corresponds to ‘maximalist’ and ‘positive’ democratic consolidation. When we apply these concepts to the Turkish case, it is seen that Turkey displays certain attitudinal and behavioral deficiencies in terms of meeting all the conditions of a ‘constitutional consensus’ by which democratic procedures would supposedly be secured; however, it is also argued that Turkey is moving closer to a ‘constitutional consensus’ as the major groups in Turkey gradually adhere to these procedures. In this regard, Turkey is depicted as a ‘borderline’ case in terms of meeting the conditions of a ‘constitutional consensus,’ which is also supported by Turkey’s recent Freedom House ratings that denote a borderline situation. With respect to the possibility of forming an ‘overlapping consensus’ in the longer run in Turkey, four major issues are addressed in the study: basic rights and liberties, social justice, secularism, and the Kurdish issue. Rawls’ veil of ignorance and two principles of justice are applied to these four issues, and their implications are discussed. It is argued that equality, reciprocity, and the use of public reason would be crucial in terms of forming an overlapping consensus on these issues. Another central issue discussed in the dissertation is the issue of socio-economic modernization that is taken for granted in Rawls’ writings, and Turkey’s opportunities for consolidating its democracy in the coming years with reference to socio-economic modernization. Based on the empirical findings of modernization theory, it is argued that Turkey’s rising income and human development levels might serve to facilitate democratic development in Turkey. It is claimed that higher levels of socio-economic development, possibly enhanced by Turkey’s EU-based reforms, might create a more conducive environment for further democratic reforms, as a result of which Rawls’ peculiar political liberalism could become gradually more applicable and more likely to be realized in Turkey. It is also argued that a more just distribution of income and wealth, which might possibly be realized through a ‘property-owning democracy,’ would be more conducive to democratic consolidation in Turkey.