There is a large and growing literature on Turkish politics in general, and the AKP in particular. However, local government and party organization, although very important topics, are strikingly understudied. This book compares local politics in two Central Anatolian cities, Konya and Eskişehir, ruled by different governmental parties, the AKP in Konya and the CHP in Eskişehir. It analyzes how national political parties adapt to local contexts ('culture of everyday politics') and how they seek to influence local culture ('politics of everyday culture'). By examining how municipal politics is practiced on a daily basis, it illuminates more fundamental aspects of Turkish politics such as political mobilization, establishing links between voters and politicians, various practices of decision-making and the role of civil society. All of this has been critical for the AKP's continuous electoral success since 2002. The findings are based on over 1.5 years of fieldwork in the two cities, as well as over 50 interviews with national and local political actors. The main fields of research are mayoral biographies, municipal practices, particularly with regard to welfare and service provision, the cooperation with other municipal actors as political parties or civil society organizations; urban planning activities and cultural policy. The study helps to comprehend more fundamental aspects of Turkish politics such as political mobilization, the establishing of links between voters, municipalities and parties as well as decision-making processes. Municipal Politics in Turkey fills a gap in existing literature by illuminating the fundamental aspects of Turkish politics, such as political mobilization, the establishing of links between voters, municipalities and parties as well as decision-making processes. It will be a valuable resource for students and scholars interested in Turkish Politics and political parties, municipal/local

This book explores the “Turkish paradox” – women’s lower representation in local politics than in parliament. By analyzing life stories of 200 female municipal councilors and party representatives, it offers a comprehensive assessment of what makes local politics in Turkey particularly inaccessible to women. It places women’s pathways within the cycles of exclusion, starting by political socialization, going through the candidate recruitment process and continuing after the election. The research presented here brings together gender studies and political sociology and offers novel applications of concepts including intersectionality and biographical availability. It covers all major political parties and diverse local configurations in Turkey, and reveals political strategies of women in conservative parties as well as the reasons behind the exceptionally high representation of women within the pro-Kurdish political parties. The book further sheds some light on the intricate relationship between women’s political activity and regime change in the context of democratic backsliding.

The last three decades in Turkey have seen an extensive shift towards a neoliberal agenda. Turkey has made many attempts at reforming existing governance systems in an effort to be accepted into the European Union, attracting the attention and curiosity of public management scholars worldwide. New Public Management in Turkey is the first book to analyze large-scale public administration reforms in Turkey according to the underlying principles of democracy, transparency, accountability, and localization. Systematically examining the literature on Turkish local government over a 25-year period, this book presents a comprehensive look at reform and its consequences through the lens of comparative public administration. The scholarly contributions to this volume from academics teaching at universities throughout Turkey offer a multi-dimensional and multi-functional analysis embracing a variety of viewpoints. Utilizing Turkey’s rapid adaptations to the changing trends in public management as a case study, this book will serve as a unique and valuable policy guide for politicians and legislators seeking to develop a democratic and localized governance structure in a variety of contexts.

The study of politics in Turkey : new horizons and perennial pitfalls / Güneş Murat Tezcür -- Democratization theories and Turkey / Ekrem Karakoç -- Ruling ideologies in modern Turkey / Kerem Öktem -- Constitutionalism in Turkey / Aslı Ü. Bâli -- Civil-military relations and the demise of Turkish democracy / Nil S. Satana and Burak Bilgehan Özpek -- Capturing secularism in Turkey : the ease of comparison / Murat Akan -- The political economy of Turkey since the end of World War II / Şevket Pamuk -- Neoliberal politics in Turkey / Sinan Erensü and Yahya M. Madra -- The politics of welfare in Turkey / Erdem Yörük -- The political economy of environmental policymaking in Turkey : a vicious cycle / Fikret Adaman, Bengi Akbulut, and Murat Arsel -- The politics of energy in Turkey : running engines on geopolitical, discursive, and coercive power / Begüm Özkaynak, Ethemcan Turhan, and Cem İskender Aydın -- The contemporary politics of health in Turkey : diverse actors, competing frames, and uneven policies / Volkan Yılmaz -- Populism in Turkey : historical and contemporary patterns / Yüksel Taşkın -- Old and new polarizations and failed democratizations in Turkey / Murat Somer -- Economic voting during the AKP era in Turkey / S. Erdem Aytaç -- Party organizations in Turkey and their consequences for democracy / Melis G. Laebens -- The evolution of conventional political participation in Turkey / Ersin Kalaycıoğlu -- Symbolic politics and contention in the Turkish Republic / Senem Aslan -- Islamist activism in Turkey / Menderes Çınar -- The Kurdish movement in Turkey : understanding everyday perceptions and experiences / Dilan Okcuoglu -- The Transnational Mobilization of the Alevis of Turkey : from invisibility to the struggle for equality / Ceren Lord -- Politics of asylum seekers and refugees in Turkey : limits and prospects of populism / Fatih Resul Kılınç and Şule Toktaş -- A theoretical account of Turkish foreign policy under the AKP / Tarık Oğuzlu -- US-Turkey relations since WWII : from alliance to transactionalism / Serhat Güvenç and Soli Özel -- Turkey and Europe : historical asynchronicities and perceptual asymmetries / Hakan Yılmaz -- Turkey's foreign policy in the Middle East : an identity perspective / Lisel Hintz -- Turkey and Russia : historical patterns and contemporary trends in bilateral relations / Evren Balta and Mitat Çelikpala -- Citizenship and protest behavior in Turkey / Ayhan Kaya -- Gender politics and the struggle for equality in Turkey / Zehra F. Kabasakal Arat -- Human rights organizations in Turkey / Başak Çalı -- Truth, justice, and commemoration initiatives in Turkey / Onur Bakiner -- The politics of media in Turkey : chronicle of a stillborn media system / Sarphan Uzunoğlu -- The AKP's rhetoric of rule in Turkey : political melodramas of conspiracy from "ergenekon" to "mastermind" / Erdağ Göknar -- The transformation of political cinema in Turkey since the 1960s : a change of discourse / Zeynep Çetin-Erus and M. Elif Demoğlu -- Political music in Turkey : the birth and diversification of dissident and conformist music (1920-2000) / Mustafa Avcı.

Direct democracy, or pure democracy, is a concept spreading throughout the world, now adopted by nearly 30 countries on the national level. While the concept is not new, it is important to investigate the current benefits or hinderances of direct democracy related to local governments so that they may be implemented further. Direct Democracy Practices at the Local Level deepens the knowledge of direct democracy in political science. This book explores how local governments utilize these instruments in international governments and analyzes a series of popular initiatives and local referenda to how successful these initiatives are. Covering topics such as religious rights, street committees, and climate change, this book is essential for political science students and professors, policymakers, faculty, local governments, academicians, and researchers in political science with an interest in direct democracy procedures in representative systems.

This ethnography of contemporary Istanbul charts the success of Islamist mobilization through the eyes of ordinary people. Drawing on interviews gathered over twenty years of fieldwork, White focuses on the appeal of Islamic politics in the fabric of Turkish society and among mobilizing and mobilized elites, women, and educated populations.

Although the literature on party politics has significantly advanced both methodologically and theoretically in recent years, the study of political parties in Turkey has been noticeably disconnected and lacking from such conversations. This book evaluates well-established theories and trends in existing party politics literature and relates them to the case of Turkey. It explores fundamental questions such as: Who controls party organizations and how does the locus of control change over time? What kinds of power struggles are observed inside a party and between whom? What do the present and past records of party membership imply for party organizations? What role do grassroots activists play in local and national politics? How do the ideological orientations of party members differ from party leaders and other voters? What types of social cleavages shape political parties and how do they change over time? What constitutes the relationship between the state and parties today? Who finances political parties and what does this imply about the quality of democracy? How and why do party systems change? The various chapters show that party politics in the Turkish context is significantly different to Western and new democracies. By highlighting the significant contribution the Turkish case can make to existing conceptual frameworks and theories, this book will be a valuable resource for anyone studying political parties, party systems and comparative politics, as well as Turkish politics.

There is a large and growing literature on Turkish politics in general, and the AKP in particular. However, local government and party organization, although very important topics, are strikingly understudied. This book compares local politics in two Central Anatolian cities, Konya and Eskişehir, ruled by different governmental parties, the AKP in Konya and the CHP in Eskişehir. It analyzes how national political parties adapt to local contexts (‘culture of everyday politics’) and how they seek to influence local culture (‘politics of everyday culture’). By examining how municipal politics is practiced on a daily basis, it illuminates more fundamental aspects of Turkish politics such as political mobilization, establishing links between voters and politicians, various practices of decision-making and the role of civil society. All of this has been critical for the AKP’s continuous electoral success since 2002. The findings are based on over 1.5 years of fieldwork in the two cities, as well as over 50 interviews with national and local political actors. The main fields of research are mayoral biographies, municipal practices, particularly with regard to welfare and service provision, the cooperation with other municipal actors as political parties or civil society organizations; urban planning activities and cultural policy. The study helps to comprehend more fundamental aspects of Turkish politics such as political mobilization, the establishing of links between voters, municipalities and parties as well as decision-making processes. Municipal Politics in Turkey fills a gap in existing literature by illuminating the fundamental aspects of Turkish politics, such as political mobilization, the establishing of links between voters, municipalities and parties as well as decision-making processes. It will be a valuable resource for students and scholars interested in Turkish Politics and political parties, municipal/local politics and comparative politics.

"This book focuses on the digital applications of social work, the effects of pandemic and digital transformation on social work, and practices and studies related to social work covering many issues such as gender, feminism, post-war social cohesion, social security, occupational health and safety, aging, ageism, social policy, migration, racism, sexual abuse, violence against women "--