Political Economy of Competitive Authoritarianism in Turkey

• In Event: New Lenses on Political Economy in the Middle East

Abstract

In 2012, in the wake of the Arab Spring, Turkey was shown as a model to the Arab world with its democracy that was compatible with its Muslim identity. After the 1997 military intervention, Islamists implemented a political discourse based on human rights and democracy. They supported pluralism through which the marginalized groups including Islamic groups, Kurds and non-Muslim minorities would participate in politics actively. Only 5 years later, Turkey became an authoritarian regime with limited civil and political liberties and a rising Islamist populism under the same Islamists who built a democratic rule only a short time ago. After the 2011 Arab uprisings, Islamists implemented a populist discourse that prioritized a nationalist agenda with an authoritarian flavor. The Islamists took a hostile stance toward dissent, developed a contempt for civil and political liberties, and implemented discriminatory policies toward minorities.

Many studies have analyzed the ideological dimensions of Islamist authoritarianism in Turkey focusing on Islam-secularism divide, center-periphery relations, and nationalism. This study examines political economy of competitive authoritarianism in Turkey. It looks at economic policies through which the Islamists in Turkey maintained their rule despite their authoritarian reversal. In doing so, it looks at the mechanisms through which economic tools have been used. The government penalized the opponents by confiscating their wealth, provided economic benefits to those who continued to support the rule of Justice and Development Party, and pursued opportunistic social welfare policies to maintain the popular support.

The study challenges the findings of the literature on Islam, democracy and authoritarianism in Turkey. While some considered Islamists as inflexible in their ideology and difficult to moderate their political discourse, others argued that political participation moderates Islamists either through social interaction with people from other ideological groups, or through cross-ideological cooperation or through taking part in liberal economic reform. In this research, I show that how Islamists used economic means to pursue their policies of democracy and authoritarianism through an analysis of changing economic policies over the rule of Justice and Development Party.

Author

• Ramazan Kilinc, University of Nebraska-Omaha