Democratization and the politics of constitution-making in Turkey / Ergun Özbudun and Ömer F. Gençkaya.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Özbudun, Ergun.

Contributor:

Gençkaya, Ömer Faruk.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democratization--Turkey.

Democratization.

Constitutional history--Turkey.

Constitutional history.

Turkey.

Turkey--Politics and government--1980-.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

147 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Budapest ; New York : Central European University Press, 2009.

Summary:

The Turkish experience in constitution-making can be described as a series of missed opportunities to create political institutions based on broad consensus. None of the three republican constitutions (those of 1924, 1961, and 1982), nor the Ottoman Constitution of 1876 was written by a Constituent or a Legislative Assembly broadly representative of social forces or through a process of negotiations, bargaining, and compromise. Consequently, they all had weak political legitimacy. No doubt, the prospects of EU membership provided a powerful stimulus for these constitutional reforms as well as the nine harmonization packages. With these reforms, Turkey has sufficiently satisfied the Copenhagen political criteria and started accession negotiations with the EU. It would be wrong to assume, however, that these reforms were simply an outcome of Turkey's desire to join the EU. They also responded to the society's demands for a more democratic and liberal political system.

Contents:

The history of constitution-making in Turkey

Initial changes, 1987-1995

Constitutional amendments under EU conditionality 1998-2006

Harmonization packages and other legislative reforms

EU conditionality and democratization process in Turkey

The constitutional crisis of 2007-2008 and the search for a new constitution.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [135]-141) and index.

ISBN:

9789639776302

9639776300

OCLC:

264047415