The Failure of Popular Constitution Making in Turkey

Erscheinungsjahr 2020
ISBN: 978-1-108-49762-6
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 426 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 767 g

Reihe: Comparative Constitutional Law and Policy

This book offers an in-depth account of the failure of popular constitution making in Turkey from 2011 to 2013, which was an anomaly in the otherwise authoritarian history of Turkish constitutional politics. The authors demonstrate that, even in unfavorable conditions, constitution making that brings together different stakeholders can potentially lead to significant improvement of constitutional regimes. Long-standing societal divides regarding cultural and religious diversity, which were evident in political parties' negotiations, played a significant role in the failure of the process in Turkey. Most notably, the ruling AKP's insistence on establishing a presidential system - supported by neither other political parties nor the public - destabilized the process and exacerbated distrust among the drafters. Unfavorable procedures, particularly an unrealistic deadline and the unanimity principle, prevented consensus and allowed the AKP to hijack the process. The process was a missed opportunity for democratization before Turkey plunged into full-fledged democratic backsliding.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Petersen, Felix

Yanas¿mayan, Zeynep

Fachgebiete

• Rechtswissenschaften Öffentliches Recht
• Rechtswissenschaften Internationales Recht und Europarecht Internationales Recht Internationales Öffentliches Recht, Völkerrecht, Internationale Organisationen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Part I. Introduction: Introduction Felix Petersen and Zeynep Yanasmayan; 1. Explaining the failure of popular constitution making in Turkey (2011–13) Felix Petersen and Zeynep Yanasmayan; Part II. Contextualizing Constitution Making in Turkey: 2. The people and its embodiment: authoritarian foundations of constitutions in Turkey Ertug Tombus; 3. Regime cycles, constitution making, and the political system question in Ottoman and Turkish constitutional developments Sule Özsoy Boyunsuz; 4. Illiberal media and popular constitution making in Turkey Burcu Baykurt; Part III. Debating and Drafting the Constitution in 2011–13; 5. Debating state organization principles in the constitutional Conciliation Commission Gözde Böcü and Felix Petersen; 6. Glass half full: drafting fundamental rights in the Turkish constitution-making process (2011–13) Oya Yegen and Zeynep Yanasmayan; 7. Countermajoritarian institutions in Turkish constitution making Maria Abad Andrade; 8. Debating the amendment-making rule: the rigidity vs. flexibility debate in the Turkish constitution-making process Oya Yegen.

Über Autor(innen)

Yanas¿mayan, Zeynep
Zeynep Yanasmayan is a senior research fellow and coordinator of the Max Planck Society-funded research initiative 'The Challenges of Migration, Integration and Exclusion' at the Department of Law and Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology. Her research interests include migration and citizenship studies, governance of religious diversity, law and society and Turkish politics. She is the author of The Migration of Highly Educated Turkish Citizens to Europe: From Guestworkers to Global Talent (2019), and co-editor of Belief, Law and Politics: What Future for Secular Europe? (2014).

Petersen, Felix
Felix Petersen is the Minerva Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Richard Koebner Center for German History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research interests include modern political thought, constitutional politics, theory of democracy, and German and Turkish politics. He is a co-author of the forthcoming book The Constitutional Court of Turkey: Judicial Politics between Authoritarianism and Democracy.