Decentralization and Recentralization of Local Governments in Turkey

Abstract

Local governments in Turkey are based on a tripartite system: special provincial administrations, municipalities, and villages. In parallel to the extensive reforms in public administration since 2004, major laws have been changed to decrease the power of central government while empowering local governments. As stated in the Emergency Action Plan and the Public Administration Basic Law drafts of the newly elected government, (Justice and Development Party, which is still in power in Turkey) decentralization for the sake of democratization was one of the top priorities. The reforms were also in line with the European Charter of Local Self Government, as well as the dominant new public management paradigm. However, the latest law on metropolitan municipalities (Act No 6360) presents a different picture. With this law, the number of the metropolitan municipalities increased from 16 to 30, and the authority of the metropolitan municipalities expanded to include the province as a whole. The rationale of this expansion is explained as avoiding problems about planning and coordination among too many small size local government units, and benefiting economies of scale. As a result, 30 special provincial administrations, 1.591 smaller municipalities, and 16.082 villages will be closed. At this point, there emerges a controversial problem: is the local government system in Turkey becoming decentralized or is it becoming recentralized? In this paper, we discuss the consequences of expansion of the metropolitan municipalities on the basis of subsidiarity principle. We argue that the local government system is becoming recentralized around metropolitan cities for the sake of benefiting “scale economies”, and that this centralization conflicts with democratic principles on which the local governments are build upon.