Between State and Society: Sovereignty, Regime and Political Culture in Turkey

Abstract

This study researches the relationship between the political culture and the political
regime in Türkiye. In this context, the characteristics of the political culture in Türkiye
and its transformation, the lines of continuity and change there, and the relationship
between these lines and the political regime are researched. It is argued that the political
regime defining the relationships of sovereignty is decisive in the characteristics of the
political culture and its continuity and change in Türkiye. It is put forward that the lines
of change become more evident in the characteristics of the political culture, depending
on the transformation in the political regime. In this context, it is argued that, until the
2010s, the political culture in Türkiye has been characterized by the parliamentary regime
and bureaucracy. As of the end of 2010s, it has a characteristic in the context of the
presidential regime and social groups. In this characteristic, it is revealed that the political
competition environment, which is not sufficiently balanced institutionally, reinforces
the understanding of leader-centered politics in the Turkish political culture and also
produces a phenomenon of “political community” in terms of representation processes
between society and politics in the Turkish political culture.