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Abstract
Since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002 Turkey has undergone double regime transitions. First, tutelary democracy ended; second, a competitive authoritarian regime has risen in its stead. We substantiate this assertion with specific and detailed evidence from 2015 election cycles, as well as from broader trends in Turkish politics. This evidence indeed confirms that elections are no longer fair; civil liberties are being systematically violated; and the playing field is highly skewed in favour of the ruling AKP. The June 2015 election results and their aftermath further confirm that Turkey has evolved into a competitive authoritarian regime.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks are due to Hazan Sucu for her valuable research assistance. We would also like to thank Karabekir Akkoyunlu, Tim Dorlach, Samuel Greene, Kerem Oktem, Ziya Onis, Osman Savaskan, Feryaz Ocakli, Andreas Schedler and participants at the interdisciplinary workshop on the ‘Political Economy of Contemporary Turkey’ (July 30–31, 2015), the inaugural symposium ‘Consortium of European Symposia on Turkey’ (October 1–3, 2015) and the ‘Rise of Competitive Electoral Authoritarian Regimes’ panel at APSA 2015. We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions.
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