The effect of introducing primaries on the profiles of candidates in the Turkish context: the local experiences of candidates

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003022893-7

This chapter analyses the effect of the decision of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) in Turkey to hold primaries as a candidate selection method for national parliamentary elections on the profile of its candidates. CHP, the main opposition party in Turkey, conducted primaries in 55 electoral districts out of 85, including three metropole cities: İstanbul, Ankara, and İzmir for the 2015 elections. The central task of this chapter is to investigate the differences in the political careers of CHP’s İstanbul candidates in the 2011 elections, for which candidates were selected by the central organization of the party, and the 2015 elections, for which candidates were elected through primaries. The results of statistical analyses will indicate that the candidates’ experiences as the head of a sub-district in İstanbul and as a member of the İstanbul organization of the party increase their likelihood to be on the party list in the 2015 elections in comparison to the 2011 elections.