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Democratic Party and Democracy in Turkey: with Special Reference to Celal Bayar and Adnan Menderes

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Democratic Party and Democracy in Turkey: with Special Reference to Celal Bayar and Adnan Menderes DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND DEMOCRACY IN TURKEY: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO CELAL BAYAR AND ADNAN MENDERES A Ph. D. Dissertation by GÜL İZ SÜTÇÜ Department of Political Science Bilkent University Ankara February 2011 DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND DEMOCRACY IN TURKEY: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO CELAL BAYAR AND ADNAN MENDERES The Institute of Economics and Social Sciences of Bilkent University by GÜL İZ SÜTÇÜ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE BİLKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA February 2011 I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science --------------------------------- Professor Metin Heper Supervisor I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science --------------------------------- Professor Aylin Özman Erkman Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science --------------------------------- Assistant Professor Berrak Burçak Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science --------------------------------- Assistant Professor İlker Aytürk Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science --------------------------------- Assistant Professor Nil Şatana Examining Committee Member Approval of the Institute of Economics and Social Sciences --------------------------------- Professor Erdal Erel Director ABSTRACT DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND DEMOCRACY IN TURKEY: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO CELAL BAYAR AND ADNAN MENDERES Sütçü, Güliz Ph.D., Department of Political Science Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Metin Heper February 2011 This study aims to analyze the conceptualization of democracy by Celal Bayar and Adnan Menderes. Given the basic assumption of this dissertation, which is that ‘political agency’ is the decisive factor for the democratization path of a country, it is particularly concerned with Bayar’s and Menderes’ conceptualization of democracy. Since they were the main figures of Turkish politics between the year 1945, when the transition decision to democracy was made, and the year 1960, when the Democratic Party government was overthrown by the Turkish military, it is important to examine the understanding of democracy that shaped their political actions and decisions in order to understand the extent to which they contributed to Turkish democracy. Taking the agency approach as its theoretical background, this dissertation analyzes their political discourse and praxis based on the distinction between minimalist and maximalist democracy. While the minimalist dimension emphasizes the vertical accountability dimension of democracies and finds the presence of the electoral iii dimension of political regimes sufficient to define a regime as democratic, the maximalist dimension additionally considers the horizontal accountability dimension and takes the political opposition aspect as interdependent with vertical accountability, and thus as an indispensable aspect of democracies. This analysis is made using the minutes of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and group meetings of the Democratic Party, selected newspapers and periodicals of the period, speeches and articles of Bayar and Menderes, and the biographies written by their friends or journalists. In addition to the data gathered through these written sources, data collected through interviews with people that witnessed the period is also used. All data is categorized under these two main dimensions of democracy and analyzed according to the extent to which these two dimensions of democracy can be considered crucial for these two political leaders’ understanding of democracy. The analysis of the political discourse and praxis of Bayar and Menderes indicates that Bayar and Menderes accepted both vertical and horizontal dimensions of democracy. However, they did not see them as interdependent and they attached priority to the vertical accountability dimension. Thus, as they disregarded the horizontal accountability dimension, it is found that democracy came under threat and finally collapsed. Keywords: Democratic Party, Turkish Democracy, Accountability, Political Leader iv ÖZET DEMOKRAT PART İ VE TÜRK İYE’DE DEMOKRAS İ: CELAL BAYAR ve ADNAN MENDERES ODA ĞINDA Sütçü, Güliz Doktora, Siyaset Bilimi Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Metin Heper Şubat 2011 Bu çalı şma, Celal Bayar ve Adnan Menderes’in demokrasi kavramsalla ştırmasını incelemektedir. Tez, siyasi aktörlerlerin bir ülkenin demokratikle şmesinde belirleyici rol oynadı ğı dü şüncesini temel alarak Bayar ve Menderes’in demokrasi kavramsalla ştırması ile ilgilenmektedir. Bayar ve Menderes, demokrasiye geçi ş kararının verildi ği 1945 yılından 1960 yılında gerçekle şen askeri darbe sonucu Demokrat Parti’nin iktidardan dü şürülmesine kadar geçen süre içinde Türk siyasetinin temel aktörleri olarak siyaset arenasında görev aldıklarından bu iki siyasi liderin siyasi karar ve hareketlerini şekillendirici ve Türk demokrasisine etkilerini belirleyici temel faktör olan demokrasi algılarının incelenmesi önem arz etmektedir. Demokratikle şme teorilerinden ‘aktör yakla şımını’ teorik altyapısının temeli olarak kabul eden bu çalı şma adı geçen bu iki liderin siyasi söylem ve prati ğini demokrasinin minimalist ve maksimalist kavramsalla ştırmaları üzerinden incelemektedir. Minimalist kavramsalla ştırma demokrasinin dikey hesap verebilirlik boyutunu vurgulayarak siyasi rejimlerde seçim pratiğinin bulunmasını bir rejimi v demokratik olarak tanımlamak için yeterli bulurken, maksimalist kavramsalla ştırma yatay hesap verebilirlik boyutunu da öne sürerek siyasi muhalefet olgusunu dikey boyutun bir devamı olarak görerek dikey ve yatay boyutların birbirinden ba ğımsız de ğerlendirilemeyece ğini öne sürmektedir. Çalı şmadaki analiz Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi ve Demokrat Parti Grup Toplantıları Zabıtları, dönemin gazete ve dergileri, Bayar ve Menderes’in konu şma ve makaleleri ve bu iki liderin arkada şları, meslekta şları ve/veya dönemin gazetecileri tarafından yazılmı ş olan kaynaklar üzerinden yapılmaktadır. Bu yazılı kaynaklara ek olarak, çalı şmaya konu olan döneme tanıklık etmi ş ki şilerle yapılan mülakatlarda elde edilen bilgilerden de analizde yararlanılmaktadır. Yazılı ve sözlü olarak elde edilmi ş olan tüm veriler yukarda bahsi geçen demokrasinin iki ayrı kavramsalla ştırması çerçevesinde sınıflandırılarak adı geçen liderlerin demokrasi algısında bu iki kavramsalla ştırma tarafından vurgulanan olguların ne derece önem ta şıdı ğı sorgulanmaktadır. Bayar ve Menderes’in siyasi söylem ve pratiklerinin bahsi geçen belge ve bilgiler üzerinden analizi sonucunda iki liderin de demokrasi algısının demokrasinin hem dikey hem de yatay hesap verebilirlik boyutunu içerdi ği anla şılmaktadır. Ancak, buna ra ğmen bu iki boyutu birbirinden ba ğımsız olarak de ğerlendirdikleri ve birbirleri arasındaki ba ğımlılı ğı öngörmedikleri anla şılmaktadır. Buna ili şkin olarak, seçim olgusu üzerinde temellenen dikey boyuta siyasi muhalefet olgusunu içeren yatay boyuta göre daha çok önem verdikleri ve bu sebeple yatay boyutun ihmal edilmeye ba şlanması ile beraber demokrasinin tehdit altına girdi ği ve nihayetinde kesintiye u ğradı ğı sonucuna varılmaktadır. Anahtar kelimeler: Demokrat Parti, Türk demokrasisi, Hesap Verebilirlik, Siyasi Lider vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply grateful to many people for their encouragement and support in the course of writing this dissertation. In this regard, I would like to take the opportunity to thank first to my supervisor Professor Metin Heper for encouraging me from the very beginning of my Ph.D. studies. I am also grateful to those who took time to read and comment on the dissertation, particularly Professors Berrak Burçak, İlker Aytürk, Nil Şatana, and Aylin Özman Erkman. Furthermore, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Mrs. Nilüfer Gürsoy (Celal Bayar’s daughter), Mr. Aydın Menderes (Adnan Menderes’ son), Mr. Talat Asal (Adnan Menderes’ lawyer), Mr. Mehmet Ali Bayar (nephew of Refik Koraltan) and Mr. Orhan Birgit (journalist) for granting me interviews and for providing me with a number of sources. Finally, I have to express my gratitude to my colleagues at the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜB İTAK), my friends, and my family for their endless support during my Ph.D. studies. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iii ÖZET v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii TABLE OF CONTENTS viii GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS xii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. Purpose of the Study 1 1.2. Methodology 3 1.3. Roadmap 5 CHAPTER II: THE CURRENT LITERATURE ON BAYAR AND MENDERES AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POLITICAL LEADERSHIP AND DEMOCRACY 9 2.1. Literature on Bayar and Menderes 11 2.2. Concept of Democracy 21 2.2.1. The Accountability Dimension of Democracy 25 2.3. Different Paths to Democracy 28 2.3.1. Approaches to Democratization 29 viii CHAPTER III: THE VERTICAL DIMENSION OF ACCOUNTABILITY IN BAYAR’S AND MENDERES’ UNDERSTANDING OF DEMOCRACY 37 3.1. The Memorandum
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