Political Parties and
Elections in
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This webpage is designed to
introduce students to the concepts associated with a comparative approach to
the study of political parties.
Remember that there are a number of important concepts which we have
examined in POL 310. These include: approaches to
the study of political parties (sociological, institutional, and
competitive); the impact of cleavages on
party formation; the families of parties
(von Beyme); electoral
methods (plurality vs. proportional); and their consequences (proportionality/disproportionality). |
The Turkish party system experience
since 1950 provides us with a way of exploring these ideas
in a pragmatic/ realistic way.
First, a summary description of modern Turkey:
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A Quick Political History of Modern “Modern Turkey was founded in 1923
from the Anatolian remnants of the defeated Ottoman Empire by national hero
Mustafa KEMAL, who was later honored with the title Ataturk,
or "Father of the Turks." Under his authoritarian leadership, the
country adopted wide-ranging social, legal, and political reforms. After a
period of one-party rule, an experiment with
multi-party politics led to the 1950 election victory of the opposition
Democratic Party and the peaceful transfer of power.
Since then, Turkish political parties have multiplied, but democracy has been
fractured by periods of instability and intermittent military coups (1960,
1971, 1980), which in each case eventually resulted in a return of political
power to civilians. In 1997, the military again helped engineer the ouster -
popularly dubbed a "post-modern coup" - of the then
Islamic-oriented government…. A
separatist insurgency begun in 1984 by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) -
now known as the People's Congress of Kurdistan or Kongra-Gel
(KGK) - has dominated the Turkish military's attention and claimed more than
30,000 lives, but after the capture of the group's leader in 1999, the
insurgents largely withdrew from Turkey, mainly to northern Iraq. In 2004,
KGK announced an end to its ceasefire and attacks attributed to the KGK increased”.
(CIA Factbook) |
We can divide up the Turkish party
system’s historical development into 4 eras:
Pre-Party System Era (up to 1950)
First Party Era (1950-1960)
Second Party Era (1960- 1977)
Third Party Era (1981-the present)
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Pre-Party System Era Cleavage: Center-Periphery Defeated, shorn of much of its
former territory, and partly occupied by forces of the victorious European
states, the Ottoman structure is repudiated by Turkish nationalists who rally
under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal. In 1920 a
parliament is elected, dominated by the Andolu ve Rumeli Müdafaayı
Hukuk Cemiyeti
(Association of the Defence of the Rights of
Anatolia and Rumelia, ARMHC) of Kemal.
The temporal and religious ruling institutions of the old empire (the
sultanate and caliphate) are abolished and the empire is renamed in 1922 into
Turkey, first named Turkish State, renamed Turkish Republic in 1923. Kemal becomes president of the new Turkish state…. Kemal's followers inside the ARMHC found in 1923 the Halk Firkası (People's
Party, HF). The party is renamed Cumhuriyet Halk Firkası (Republican
People's Party, CHF) in 1924. He rules the country as a dictator and under
his leadership |
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Party Era One Cleavage: Center-Periphery Institutional: Plurality** Disproportionality: Extreme In 1950 |
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**Explanation of
Electoral Mechanism: The electoral mechanism was a plurality electoral system based upon voting for
party lists in multimember
districts. The party list which
obtained a plurality in the district was awarded all of the seats in that
district. |
Percentage of Votes
(1950-1957) with Seat in Parentheses
|
Party |
Name |
Spectrum Location |
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CHP |
Republican People’s Party |
Center-Left |
39.9 (69) |
35.3 (30) |
41.1 (173) |
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DP |
Democratic Party |
Center-Right |
53.3 (408) |
57.5 (490) |
42.9 (419) |
|
MP |
Nation Party |
Right |
3.0 (1) |
- |
- |
|
CMP |
Republican Nation Party |
Right |
|
4.8 (0) |
7.1 |
|
HP |
Freedom Party |
Center-Left |
|
.6 (5) |
3.8 (4) |
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|
|
|
3.8 (9) |
1.8 (10) |
.1 (2) |
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Type of |
Government |
|
Party |
Party |
Party |
|
ID |
Index of |
Disproportionality |
28.54 |
32.25 |
21.17 |
|
Election |
Turnout Rate |
% |
90.4 |
88.6 |
76.6 |
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Lesson from Party Era One:
The Problem with a Two-Party System The three parliamentary elections
in 1950, 1954 and 1957 resulted in victories for the DP. Thanks to the nature
of the electoral system, the DP’s electoral victories translated into
large parliamentary majorities. At
this time the system conformed to the basics of a two
party system: 1)
2 major parties (DP and CHP) captured the lion’s share of the votes 2)
government was formed by a majority party (DP); and 3)
the minor parties were limited and with little strength The Turkish party system differed
from two party systems in the 1)
there was no alteration of power
between the two parties; and
2)
there was a lack of stability in the
system as a whole “The polarization between the
government and the opposition did not stem from ideological conflicts between
the left and right, for both parties were close to
the center on the party spectrum.
Rather the intense conflicts between the DP and the CHP were largely
due to the practice of democracy….The DP grew arrogant with its electoral
victories and chose confrontation, rather than cooperation and compromise,
with the opposition”. To see a summary of the distribution
of preferences for the elections of the 1950s: click |
Military Coup/ DP outlawed/ Some leaders executed
New Constitution/ proportional representation
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Party Era Two Cleavage: Center-Periphery Institutional: Proportional Disproportionality: Low to Moderate In 1961 parliamentary democracy is
restored and Ismet Inönü
of the CHP becomes prime minister again. He loses confidence of parliament in
1965 and is forced to abdicate. Later that year the CHP loses the 1965
elections, bringing the AP with Süleyman Demirel to the premiership. The army still sees its role
as the custodian of the secular tradition and stages in 1971 a coup to bring down the government of Süleyman Demirel. After some
interim governments, the CHP wins the 1973 elections and forms a coalition
government under its leader Mustafa Bülent Ecevit. This government falls in 1974. Demirel becomes prime minister again. Between 1977 and
1979 Ecevit is prime minister and in 1979 Demirel becomes prime minister again. |
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**Explanation of
Electoral Mechanism: A proportional system based upon
the d’Hondt
largest average formula was adopted beginning in 1961. Modifications to the formula occurred after
virtually every election although the principle of proportionality was still key. |
Percentage of Votes
(1961-1977) with Seat in Parentheses
|
Party |
|
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CHP |
Republican People’s Party |
Center-Left |
36.7 (173) |
28.7 (134) |
27.4 (143) |
31.3 (185) |
41.4 (213) |
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MP |
Nation Party |
Right |
|
6.3 (31) |
3.2 (6) |
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AP |
Justice Party |
Center-Right |
34.8 (158) |
52.9 (240) |
46.5 (256) |
29.8 (149) |
36.9 (189) |
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CKMP |
Republican Peasant Nation Party |
Right |
14.0 (54) |
2.2 (11) |
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|
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CGP |
Republican Reliance Party |
Center-Right |
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|
6.6 (15) |
5.3 (13) |
1.9 (3) |
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DkP |
Democratic Party |
Center-Right |
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|
|
11.9 (45) |
1.9 (1) |
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TBP |
Turkish Unity Party |
Center-Left |
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|
2.8 (8) |
1.1 (1) |
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TIP |
Turkish Workers Party |
Left |
|
3.0 (14) |
2.7 (2) |
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YTP |
New |
Center-Right |
13.7 (65) |
3.7 (19) |
2.2 (6) |
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MHP |
Nationalist Action Party |
Right |
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|
3.0 (1) |
3.4 (3) |
6.4 (16) |
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MSP |
National Salvation Party |
Right |
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|
11.8 (48) |
2.4 (24) |
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Type of |
Government |
|
Coalition |
Party |
Party |
Coalition |
Coalition & Minority |
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|
.8 (0) |
3.2 (1) |
5.6 (13) |
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