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Insight Turkey > Issues | Elections and Turkish Democracy - Spring 2014 / Volume 16, Number 2

Elections and Turkish Democracy



Editor's Notes


Editor's Note | Spring 2014
Fair and transparent elections provide an opportunity for citizens to continue or discontinue with the incumbent administrations and political parties. Elections are also moments for the renewal of confidence or expressing popular discontent with the ruling political authority. In modern democracies, it is only through elections and political participation that governments change and political transition takes place. Therefore, established democracies and countries, which aspire for democratic representation, invest in elections and political participation as the main sources of legitimacy. It is on the basis of such legitimacy that political parties and governments can effectively function in modern nation-states. It is primarily for this reason that whenever there is discontent and search for alternative political representation, elections provide the opposition groups and parties with the opportunity to challenge the ruling political parties and governments. 


Commentaries


A Quick Glance at the History of Elections in Turkey
Generally speaking, two traditions – right-wing politics and the Left – have dominated Turkish...

The AK Party: Dominant Party, New Turkey and Polarization
One of the fiercest electoral battles fought in the Turkish political history, the March 30, 2014...

The Structural Causes of Political Crisis in Turkey
The December 17th process was started allegedly by a political move by the Gülen movement, which,...

Strengths and Constraints of Turkish Policy in the South Caucasus
Just after the end of the Soviet Union and the emergence of three independent states in the South...

Elections in Iraq: What Does the Future Hold?
Iraq held parliamentary elections in April, the country’s first vote since the withdrawal of U.S....

Hezbollah and Syria: From Regime Proxy to Regime Savior
Hezbollah’s longstanding ties with the House of Assad lie at the core of its domestic and...


Articles


The Longest Year of Turkish Politics: 2014
Like all long political years, the year 2014 did not begin on January 1st; rather, 2014...

One Down, Two More to Go: Electoral Trends in the Aftermath of the March 2014 Municipality Elections
The March 2014 local elections in Turkey did not drastically alter electoral balances in Turkey....

The 2014 Local Elections in Turkey: A Victory for Identity Politics
The context of and the meaning conferred upon the local elections led it to be fought in a...

The Republican People’s Party and the 2014 Local Elections in Turkey
Ahead of the 2014 local elections, the main opposition, the Republican People’s Party (CHP),...

Syria: The Hope and Challenges of Mediation
The civil war in Syria continues to devastate social and political structures, precipitating...

The Crimean Crisis in the Context of New Russian Geopolitics
Over the past months, the crisis in Crimea presented the world with a case study on how rapidly...

Japan and Turkey: The Contours and Current Status of an Economic Partnership/Free Trade Agreement
As the third largest economy in the world, Japan cannot be overlooked in any analysis of Asia’s...


Book Reviews


Filistin Politikamız: Camp David’den Mavi Marmara’ya
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is presumably the most problematic and persistent theme in...

Dynamics of Energy Governance in Europe and Russia
Relations between Europe and Russia in the post-Cold War era constitute a fascinating area of...

Picknick mit den Paschas: Aleppo und die levantinische Handelsfirma Fratelli Poche
Studies on the Europeans who lived in the Ottoman Empire have been mostly conducted through the...

The Story of Islamic Philosophy
You cannot judge a book by its cover – or even its title. Now and then, a work comes along that...

Principles of Islamic International Criminal Law: A Comparative Search
As one of the major components of the Islamic state, Islamic law has drawn considerable attention...

Orhan Pamuk, Secularism and Blasphemy: The Politics of the Turkish Novel
In this book, Erdağ Göknar, the award-winning translator of Orhan Pamuk’s novel, My Name Is Red,...

Sovereignty After Empire: Comparing the Middle East and Central Asia
The demise of empires left a powerful and perplexing legacy for successor states in the Middle...

Fathers and Sons: The Rise and Fall of Political Dynasty in the Middle East
A decade after 9/11, the Arab revolts gave a second impetus to scholarly interest in the Middle...

Revolution and Reform in Russia and Iran: Modernisation and Politics in Revolutionary States
In her comparative study, Ghoncheh Tazmini investigates the Russian revolution of 1917 and the...

Muslim Minorities and Citizenship: Authority, Communities and Islamic Law
In her comparative study, Ghoncheh Tazmini investigates the Russian revolution of 1917 and the...


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