The Paradox of Modernity in Turkey: Issues in the Transformation of a State

• Published in: India quarterly 2012-03, Vol.68 (1), p.49-67
• Main Author: Hürsoy, Siret
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Authoritarianism; Bureaucracy; Democracy; European Union; Intellectuals; Legitimacy; Liberalization; Modernity; Modernization; Political conditions; State structure; Turkey
• ISSN: 0974-9284; 0975-2684
• DOI: 10.1177/097492841106800104

The central argument of this article is that the strong state-centred tradition of Turkey has recently gone out of fashion. The breakdown of authoritarianism and state-centred approach and moving into a successful democratic consolidation and society-centred approach in Turkey requires choices to be made and alliances to be formed among intellectual-bureaucratic elite, the military, political parties, trade unions, other interest groups and various types of societal organisations. One of the most important difficulties for consolidating democracy in Turkey has been the complexity of creating stable, viable, accountable, responsive, predictable, representative, transparent, efficient and problem-solving oriented legitimate institutions where all citizens, regardless of ethnic origin or religious orientation, have a voice and enabling representation in such bureaucratic organs that altogether make-up the institution of state. This article will assert that the forces of democratic transition from a state-centred approach to a society-centred approach in Turkey are based on resolving the two main potentially difficult problems that are related with constant questioning of the legitimacy and democratic consolidation of the state apparatus: ethnic and religious paradoxes.