Abstract
Turkey’s experience with economic reforms and democratization since the early 1980s underscores the importance of the political parties and the party systems in the interactions between these two processes. The country’s experience with democratic politics and a multiparty system made a significant contribution to the resumption of electoral politics and redemocratization following three years of military rule in the early 1980s. However, the opening up of the political space and the reemergence of competitive party politics ultimately created problems for the successful completion of the economic reforms, as one-party dominance and majority-party governments gave way to fragmentation in the party system with weak coalition governments. The Turkish case is instructive of the difficulties facing countries that seek to simultaneously consolidate their democracies and liberalize their economies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ERGUDER, USTUN AND RICHARD I. HOFFERBERT 1988 The 1983 general election in Turkey: continuity or change in voting patterns? In Heper and Evin, eds., 81–102.
FEROZ, AHMAD 1985 The transition to democracy in Turkey.Third World Quarterly (April): 211–226.
GUNES-AYATA, AYSE 1994 Roots and trends of clientelism in Turkey. InDemocracy clientelism, and civil society, edited by Luis Roniger and Ayse Gunes Ayata, 49–63. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.
HEPER, METIN 1994 Transition to democracy in Turkey: Toward a new pattern. InPolitics in the third Turkish republic, edited by Metin Heper and Ahmet Evin, 13–22. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
HEPER, METIN AND AHMET EVIN, EDS. 1988State democracy and the military: Turkey in the 1980s. Berlin: de Gruyter.
KRUEGER, ANNE O. AND ILTER TURAN 1993 The politics and economics of Turkish policy reforms in the 1980s InPolitical and economic interactions in economic policy reform, edited by Robert H. Bates and Anne O. Krueger. Oxford: Blackwell.
NAS, TEVFIK F. AND MEHMET ODEKON 1992Economics and politics of Turkish liberalization. Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University Press.
MAINWARING, SCOTT 1988 Political parties and democratization in Brazil and southern cone.Comparative Politics (October): 91–120.
O'DONNELL, GUILLERMO AND PHILIPPE C. SCHMITTER 1985 Tentative conclusions about uncertain democracies. In O’Donnell and Schmitter, eds.
O’DONNELL, GUILLERMO AND PHILIPPE C. SCHMITTER, EDS. 1986Transitions from authoritarian rule. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
ONIS, ZIYA AND STEVEN WEBB 1992 Political economy of reform in Turkey in the 1980s. Mimeo. The World Bank. April.
SAYARI, SABRI 1976 Aspects of party organization in Turkey.The Middle East Journal (Spring): 187–200.
1977 Political patronage in Turkey. InPatrons and clients in mediterranean societies, edited by Ernest Gellner and John Waterbury, 103–114. London: Duckworth's.
SAYARI, SABRI 1992 Politics and economic policy-making in Turkey, 1980–1988. In Nas and Odekon, eds., 26–43.
SUNAR, ILKAY AND SAYARI, SABRI 1986 Democracy in Turkey: problems and prospects. In O'Donnell and Schmitter, 165–186.
TURAN, ILTER 1988 Political parties and the party system in post-1983 Turkey. In Heper and Evin, eds., 63–80.
WATERBURY, JOHN 1992 Export-led growth and center-right coalition in Turkey. In Nas and Odekon, eds., 44–72.
YESILADA, BIROL 1988 Problems of political development in the third Turkish republic.Policy (Winter): 345–372.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Sabri Sayari is executive director of the Institute of Turkish Studies and research professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He has written extensively on Turkey’s domestic politics and foreign policy, and on issues related to political development, parties and party systems, and democratization.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sayari, S. Political parties, party systems, and economic reforms: The Turkish case. St Comp Int Dev 31, 29–45 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02738630
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02738630