An Attempt at Pseudo-Democracy and Tactical Liberalization in Turkey: An Analysis of Ismet Inonu's Decision to Transition to a Multi-Party Political System
Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: Turkish experiment of transition to multi-party politics in 1946 has been seen by transition to democracy comparativists as an example of the cases in which the ruling elites deliberately decide that the society is diverse so this diversity needs to be translated into the political sphere by allowing multi-party politics. However, this study challenges this view and suggests that a close reading of the critical juncture of 1946 when the President and the leader of Republican People’s Party Ismet Inonu decided to allow other parties to operate shows that it was not that the President Inonu succumbed to the reality of diversity but domestic and international concerns forced him to act towards a multi-party political structure. In his mind, he had a pseudo-democratic system where he and his party would continue to rule the country in a hegemonic party system setting where a ruling party monopolizes the political arena, using coercion, patronage, media control, and other means to deny formally legal opposition parties any real chance of competing for power.
Authors: Kemal Özden, İhsan Yılmaz
Institutions: Fatih University, Deakin University
Language: English
Topic: Historical Turkish Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1510001296