Kürşat Çınar - Böcker

This book explores the roots of the decline of democracy and the rise of hegemonic parties in Turkey, by comparing the Justice and Development Party (AKP) with other comparable cases throughout the world.Offering a novel analysis in the rise of hegemonic parties, this book incorporates the analysis of state-society relations and institutionalist approaches. A hegemonic party is a single political party that dominates the scene in multi-party elections for extended periods of time. Focusing on the cases of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Russia and other countries through the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, Africa and Europe, the book proves that hegemony building is possible through the combination of societal and institutional factors at the individual, local, and national levels. Multilingual comparative content analysis, rigorous statistical tests, and in-depth elite-level interviews support this theory, based on an extensive fieldwork analysis.Analysing contemporary as well as historical cases of hegemonic parties, the volume will be of interest to researchers and students in a broad range of areas including democratization, political parties and Turkish politics.

Women’s Empowerment in Turkey and Beyond offers a methodologically, theoretically, and empirically rich analysis of women’s empowerment in male-dominated societies, juxtaposing the Turkish case in comparative perspective.The volume explores institutional and societal obstacles against women’s empowerment in patriarchal communities, how women cope and bargain with patriarchy in such societies, and how they try to achieve better living standards for themselves and their families. It also pinpoints areas for improvement in women’s empowerment via institutional and societal change in the areas of education, economics, politics, and social life. Interdisciplinary contributors offer in-depth fieldwork analyses as well as rigorous statistical techniques. The multi-disciplinary and multi-method nature of the book provides both breadth and depth to the study of women’s empowerment and offers fertile ground for further research on gender politics. Interdisciplinary in nature, Women’s Empowerment in Turkey and Beyond will be of great interest to scholars of Gender Politics, Turkish Studies and Women’s Empowerment. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of Turkish Studies.

This book explores the roots of the decline of democracy and the rise of hegemonic parties in Turkey, by comparing the Justice and Development Party (AKP) with other comparable cases throughout the world.Offering a novel analysis in the rise of hegemonic parties, this book incorporates the analysis of state-society relations and institutionalist approaches. A hegemonic party is a single political party that dominates the scene in multi-party elections for extended periods of time. Focusing on the cases of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Russia and other countries through the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, Africa and Europe, the book proves that hegemony building is possible through the combination of societal and institutional factors at the individual, local, and national levels. Multilingual comparative content analysis, rigorous statistical tests, and in-depth elite-level interviews support this theory, based on an extensive fieldwork analysis.Analysing contemporary as well as historical cases of hegemonic parties, the volume will be of interest to researchers and students in a broad range of areas including democratization, political parties and Turkish politics.