Democratic Governance Reforms in Turkey and Their Implications

Abstract

Turkey, as a rapidly developing and changing country, has undergone extensive administrative, political, and economic reforms since the late 1990s. These reforms have helped realign the powers, functions and relations of the central government and local administrations, the state, the market, and the civil society. As a result of the recent reforms and a strong one party government and political stability since 2002, Turkey has achieved a steady and high economic development and improved its governance system. Yet, there still seems to be some shortcomings and problems, and thus a need for further institutional change and reforms in Turkey, particularly in the areas of democratization, central-local government relations, human rights and freedoms, the rule of law, political party, and election systems. The first goal of this chapter is to present and discuss the recent wave of reforms in Turkey and their contents and driving forces. For this purpose, a short review of the administrative and political system in Turkey and its historical development are presented. The second goal is to assess and examine the contents of the reforms in the areas of economic liberalization, decentralization, deregulation, governance, among others. The final goal is to make some comments about the transformation of the governance system in Turkey and discuss its implications and future prospects. In this respect, the chapter concludes that the future reform efforts should be focused on the creation and implementation of real and functional participatory and democratic governance processes and mechanisms at the national, regional, and local levels along with the enhancement of the political system, democracy, and the rule of law in Turkey.