Tek Parti Döneminde Vesayet Rejimi: Demokrasiye Katkı mı, Engel mi?

Abstract

This article examines the political regime during the single party rule in Turkey between the years of 1923-1950 in relation to the concept of tutelage. In the academic literature, the policies implemented during the one-party period are justified under the title of guardianship democracy. It is argued that the Kemalist elite of Turkey, unintentionally and undesireably constructed authoritarian one-party regime for the sake of achieving more robust democratic regime. Hence the adjective tutelage is used to define the desire of one party regime to reach democracy and point its untotalitarian feature. This study is trying to explain that tendency towards tutelary regime does not constitute a positive property, unlikely it is pressuring dynamic for democracy, even clearing out the possibility of a democratic system. The main argument supported in this work is that tutelary tendencies, contrary to the assumptions of Kemalist historicization, do not serve as segue to democracy, but rather make consolidation of democracy difficult, even impossible.