Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
STUDIES IN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS, cilt.26, sa.3, ss.31-53, 2022 (ESCI)
The Republic of Türkiye
was founded on Ottoman parliamentary tradition introduced in 1878. However,
debates on system change have always been on the agenda. The Turkish political
elite has occasionally presented proposals on the need to shift from a parliamentary
to a presidential system. The times of political crises set a suitable ground
for such favourable arguments. This article focuses primarily on the
realisation of the system change witnessed under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s leadership.
In the first part, it argues that the three-phase strategy of the AK Party has
made its political dreams come true. An issue is first popularised, then
narrativised,and finally securitised. Consequently, the new presidential
government system was adopted with the April 16th, 2017 referendum. The article
analyses how the system change has modified the formation of such alliances
among the political parties beyond customary ways. It questions to what extent
this novel dimension of party politics would be sustainable. The second part
thus elaborates on the formation of alliances and the efforts to make them
functional on the way to consensual politics. Lijphart’s classification of
democracies as majoritarian governments versus consensus governments has
provided a theoretical base for a discussion on the return to a strengthened
parliamentary system. The article sheds light on the new dynamics of
government/opposition relations and their influence on Turkish democracy.
Keywords: Türkiye,
Turkey, System Debate, Change, Presidential System, Party Politics, Democracy