TÜRK SİYASETİ - Deneme Sınavı - 5

The date of transition to constitutional-monarchy government in Turkey is 1876.

Prince Sabahaddin (1877-1948) went to Europe after receiving private education. Here, he joined the Le Play School, which claimed to establish a new science (sociology). According to Sabahaddin Bey, who adopted the ideas of this school, there are two types of families and two types of societies based on these two types of families. These are ‘tecemmüî ‘(communitarian) family and society, and ‘infiradî’ (individual, individualist) family and society. In communitarian societies, people lack the power of attempt, they expect everything from the community. In the individualist family and society, individuals trust themselves first and have personal initiative. The latter type is more successful in the face of family and community life. According to Sabahaddin Bey, the success of the Anglo-Saxon world stems from the characteristics of the individualist society. Anglo-Saxon countries are organized according to the principles of decentralization and individual enterprise. Sabahaddin believed that the issue for the Ottoman Empire would not end with the declaration of the Constitutional Monarchy. As the existing despotism was the result of the social structure; if this structure cannot be changed, even if a new constitutionalism comes, a new autocracy would be unavoidable.

The correct answer is E.

The main opposition party of the Second Constitution Era was the Party for Freedom and Harmony (Hürriyet ve İtilaf FırkasıHİF) established on 21 November 1911.

The legacy of Second Constitutional Era can be summarized at several points: (1) In the Second Constitutional Monarchy period, a fundamental change occurred in the conception of sovereignty. The foundations of the transition from monarchical domination to nation domination were laid down. 2) The exercise of power use based on the separation of the parliamentary regime and the powers is the legacy of this period. (3) Turkey experienced first multiparty political experience, political contestants and parties were institutionalized during this period. (4) The division of İTC-HİF also determined the line of political conflict of later periods. The division between the modernist-authoritarian line and the liberal-conservative line gained continuity. This division was reproduced at different levels in different periods. (5) The style of politics, based on the methods of oppression of İTC, led to a weak political tradition with its legal and normative dimension. An approach that reduced the politics to a power struggle that became settled. (6) Another negative aspect of the Second Constitutional Era was the politicization of the army. It is also the legacy of this period that the army was transformed into a pro-coup-overthrown political power, and beyond that it adopted this role.

The correct answer is E.

From the establishment until the multiparty period transition (1923-1946) CHF has maintained its character as a one-party of Turkey and has been the hallmark of this era. .During the one-party period, there are two short-lived parties who claim to represent the districts in front of CHF, the representative of the ‘centre’. The establishment of a one-party administration became established after the Liberal Party experience in 1930.

The correct answer is B.

Democrat Party (Demokrat Parti-DP), which came to power at 14 May 1950 elections, is not a party that gave direction to Turkish politics during its 10-year rule.

The correct answer is C.

The 1961 election is a complete disappointment for both CHP and for the 27 May supporters. However, a government that is a continuation of DP could not be allowed after the coup. The CHPAP coalition government was established under these conditions.

The correct answer is C.

With the military coup of 12 September 1980, the political regime was restored, and progress was made as a reaction to the negativity of the previous period.With the military coup of 12 September 1980, the political regime was restored, and progress was made as a reaction to the negativity of the previous period. Two instruments were used to prevent government crises and stop fragmentation in the political party system. The first is the protection of the proportional representation system by the electoral law, but the introduction of a %10 country-wide electoral threshold. This arrangement was intended to keep small parties, as well as parties deemed ‘out of system’, out of parliament. With the %10 electoral threshold, the current proportional representation system was expected to produce similar results to the majority systems. The second instrument was to close all political parties after the coup and to allow only three parties to enter the elections held in 1983

Despite the 10% country-wide electoral threshold, from 1991 elections to the 2002 elections, no party was able to come to power alone.

Another important development in the 90s was the involvement of the parties which were predominantly elected from the East and Southeast, came out with the claim of carrying the demands of the Kurds to politics.

The correct answer is E.

The party system refers to the complex network of relations between and among political parties. This network of relationships varies according to the number of parties, their size, power strategies and electoral system. The most commonly used criteria for classifying party systems is the number of parties competing for power. According to the classical classification of Duverger using the number criterion, there are three types of party systems: (1) One-party system, (2) Two-party system (3) Multi-party system. In the One-party system, a second party is not allowed except for one-party; there is only one- party in the system. One-party systems are divided into two groups. The authoritarian single parties that are not based on an inclusive ideology and the totalitarian One-parties based on a holistic ideology. The second group are communist and fascist parties that are mobilizing society through an ideology, aiming at a new type of human and society that conforms to this ideology. The best example of two-party systems is the US and UK. The two-party system is not the system with only two parties, but a system with two parties which have power potentials competing for political power. Around 90% of the total votes in almost every election is shared between the two parties. The ruling power changes in the hands of these two parties. Duverger states that a simple majority system only supports a two-party system. However, this is not a mechanical relationship. It should be noted that two-party systems work well in countries that have social consensus on the political regime. Multi-party systems are systems with more than two parties competing for power or having the power to influence power. It is divided into two as moderate and excessive multi-party systems. In the moderate multiparty system, parties tend to cluster around two centres. Power changes hands between these alliances that are formed to the right or left of the centre. According to Duverger, two-tiered majority systems support moderate multi-party systems. Excessive multiparty systems are not characterized by a large multiplicity of party numbers, but a multiplicity of political poles and the distance between them. The excessive multiparty system is seen in countries where there is a lack of consensus on the political regime and leads to instability of the government. Duverger believes that pure proportional representation systems support the multi-party system.

The correct answer is D

With the 2016 referendum, Turkey adopted the Presidential governmental system.

The correct answer is A.

The 1961 election is a complete disappointment for both CHP and for the 27 May supporters. However, a government that is a continuation of DP could not be allowed after the coup. The CHPAP coalition government was established under these conditions.

Democrat Party (Demokrat Parti-DP), which came to power at 14 May 1950 elections, is not a party that gave direction to Turkish politics during its 10-year rule. DP is a party that goes beyond the period of its rule and continues its effects even after it was closed by the military coup on 27 May, 1960. DP and its leader Menderes are an important basis for legitimacy for the liberal-conservative centre-right politics which has the potential support of roughly two-thirds of the people in Turkey. Almost all of the parties in this line are trying to show themselves as a continuation of DP and to lay claim on the DP legacy.

CKMP was transformed into an ideological Turkish nationalist party under the leadership of Alparslan Türkeş and took its place in the Assembly in 1969 under the name of the Nationalist Action Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi-MHP)

CHP votes fell even below the 1965 vote rates in 1969 elections. The two most important reasons of CHP’s decline were the centre-left politics’ causing loss of votes in the East and Southeast; and Unity Party of Turkey (Türkiye Birlik Partisi-TBP) being included into the party system with an aim to represent the Alevi. The TBP also pointed to a new functional division based on belief-identity in the party system.

When Süleyman Demirel led an AP formed government alone in 1969 and obtained enough majority in parliament, its failure to pass the budget through the Assembly in 1970, moved Turkey to a new crisis, in which one of the sides was the army.

GP (Reliance Party-Güven Partisi): A minor party that was created in 1967 by a dissident group of CHP parliamentarians. Turhan Feyzioğlu was the chairman of this new party. Later renamed CGP (Republican Reliance Party-Cumhuriyetçi Güven Partisi).

Three parties were allowed to participate in the 1983 elections. These were the Nationalist Democracy Party (Milliyetçi Demokrasi Partisi MDP) led by Retired General Turgut Sunalp, The Populist Party (Halkçı Parti-HP) led by Necdet Calp, who also served as principal clerk to İnonü, and the Motherland Party (Anavatan Partisi-ANAP) led by Turgut Özal, who served as the minister responsible for the economy in the post-coup government.

The party that passed the crisis of the 90s and ensured political stability turned out to be the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi-AK Party), which came to power after the 2001 economic crisis.

Ecevit who was elected as the leader of the CHP against İnönü in 1972, made CHP the first party in the 1973 elections, with his stance against 12 March

Then came Demirel’s prime ministery and the Nationalist Front Government (AP-MHP-MSP-CGP) was a harbinger of the frontline politics, which would influence both parliament and society.