Turkey's struggle with democracy:|bemergent non-democratic regime in the twenty-first century

Official URL: https://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b2486531_(Table of contents)

Turkey, under AKP’s incumbency, has gone through radical changes in the last 18 years. Initial attempts and hopes towards liberal democracy were faltered by means of the ever-growing power of incumbency. Considering Turkey’s struggle with democracy, this thesis has endeavored to answer several questions: Where does Turkey stand in the global democratic backslide? How did AKP ascend to power and sustain its governance? How has liberal democracy’s aims of Turkey gradually changed over time? How to classify Turkey, following the transition to the Executive Presidential system? By answering the aforementioned questions, this thesis aims to show the chronology of elimination of the democratic elements and the autocratization process that took place during AKP’s incumbency. This thesis concludes that under AKP’s incumbency, the Turkish political regime has reached a point that could be considered as a Neopatrimonial Sultanistic regime