Turkiye: An Analysis of Social Governance during the AKP Period: The Relations between Government and Society and Non-governmental Organizations
Wei Min and Liu Hongze, June 2024
About the Authors : Prof. Wei Min, researcher at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, doctoral supervisor at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Liu Hongze, doctoral student at the School of International Political Economy, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Abstract: After the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, the country’s social governance has shown different characteristics in different periods. After experiencing the development stage of social governance concepts being coordinated with state power construction and state governance, the subject of social governance shifting from government-led to pluralistic co-governance, and the degree of socialization of social governance being improved, Turkey has entered a period of pluralistic integration and complex social governance development led by the Justice and Development Party government.
During this period, Turkey mainly promoted social governance through three paths: stabilizing the social foundation with the core demand of promoting economic growth; building a social governance system covering multiple fields to promote social equity; strengthening Islamic cultural ties and national identity awareness to reduce the risk of social conflicts.
The Justice and Development Party has achieved remarkable results in Turkey’s 20 years of social governance and maintained social stability, especially in the first 10 years of the 21st century, when Turkey’s national economy achieved rapid growth and its social development achieved long-term stability. But at the same time, the Turkish government’s social governance also faces the following prominent problems: a) the economic growth rate has slowed down, negatively affecting the improvement of people’s livelihood; b) the focus of social governance has shifted upward, and the role of social organizations has been suppressed; c) social control has been strengthened, exacerbating social divisions and confrontations. Looking from the perspective of the “Global South”, developing countries are exploring ways to enhance the modernization of government social governance capabilities, and Turkey’s gains and losses in social governance concepts, mechanisms, methods, content, etc. have provided some inspiration for other countries.
In the context of modernization, social governance is an important part of the national governance system, and can play a unique role in maintaining social stability, promoting social development, and advancing the country’s modernization process. Throughout Turkey’s 100-year history, Mustafa Kemal, the first president of the Republic of Turkey, faced the country’s backward economic and social development and proposed the idea of creating a modern, democratic and secular country, which gave birth to Kemalism.
Kemalism’s political and economic thought system has a profound impact on Turkey’s social governance. Entering the 21st century, the Justice and Development Party (hereinafter referred to as the “AKP”) stepped onto the center of the Turkish political stage. During its more than 20 years in power, the Turkish government continued to improve the construction of the social governance system and strived to enhance the ruling party’s ability to govern the country. Especially after the Gazi Park incident in 2013 , Turkey’s process of joining the European Union basically stagnated, and social governance issues continued to be criticized by the international community and human rights organizations.
Faced with changes in social trends, international environment and social needs, the AKP has continuously adjusted and improved social governance methods, and through the participation of multiple social organizations, encouraged Turkish youth, small business owners and industrial enterprises to adapt to the needs of the times and actively participate in social governance, and achieved certain results. The Global Human Capital Index released by the World Bank shows that in 2020 , Turkey ranked 53rd among 157 countries in the Global Human Capital Index , which is lower than European countries but higher than the average level of middle-income countries. This shows that Turkey’s social governance level has greatly improved. It is worth noting that under the situation of high inflation and poor economic governance performance in Turkey, the AKP won again in the Turkish general election held in May 2023. The reasons are diverse, but the positive effect of social governance is an important perspective to observe this issue.
Generally speaking, social governance refers to the governance activities of social public affairs carried out under the leadership of the ruling party, with the government and non-governmental forces as the governance subjects and the society as the governance object, using various means such as politics, economy, administration, law, culture, and education, and taking the realization of social development and long-term stability as the governance goal.
The academic research on social governance in Turkey includes not only macro-government governance policies and measures, but also the development and changes of Turkish society and the research on different forces in Turkish society. In terms of social thoughts, Daniel Nilsson De Hanas and Marat Shterin studied the development of Islamism and populism in Turkish society, and argued that the strengthening of Islamism in Turkish society promoted the popularity of populism.
See https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09637494.2018.1502911 Religion and the rise of populism
In terms of institutions and social relations, Soner Cagaptay studied the development of nationalism in Turkey in the 1930s and analyzed the impact of Turkish government policies on the shaping of Turkish society. In terms of the evaluation of social governance effectiveness, Sevket Pamuk, based on Daron Acemoglu ‘s paradigm of institutions and economic development, took Turkey as the object and studied the relationship between different institutions and economic development and social stability in different historical stages of Turkey, and examined the results of social governance in Turkey from multiple dimensions such as health level and education.
Bilge Yabanci argues that after the AKP came to power, the Turkish government did not provide a suitable political and legal environment for the expansion of non-governmental organizations, but Turkish non-governmental organizations have expanded in terms of scale and diversity of citizen participation. Overall, there have been some academic achievements in the academic community around the issue of social governance in Turkey, but research on social governance of the Turkish government led by Erdogan is still insufficient. In view of this, this article intends to examine the policy characteristics and effectiveness of the AKP government in social governance on the basis of sorting out the historical evolution of social governance in Turkey, and analyze the difficulties facing social governance in Turkey today.
Social Governance in the Republic of Türkiye: Evolution and Characteristics
The 100-year development of the Republic of Turkey has witnessed the changes in Turkey’s constitutional system, and a state’s formal constitutional system will affect other policy decisions through economic policies. The changes in Turkey’s electoral system and government form are the result of the competition between different political forces in the country, reflecting the rapid changes in Turkish social thought, and also shaping and profoundly affecting Turkey’s social policies and social governance methods in different development periods. It is precisely because of the changes in the political system and the interaction of socio-economic and other factors that Turkey’s social governance in different periods has shown phased development characteristics.
1. Coordination of social governance concepts with state power construction and state governance ( 1923-1946 )
In 1924 , the Grand National Assembly passed the first constitution of the Republic of Turkey, the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, which is the second constitution in Turkey’s history. The Constitution clearly states that Turkey is a republic, Turkish is the national language, and Islam is the state religion (this last article was deleted by the 1928 Constitution). The Constitution also stipulated that all Turks, regardless of race and belief, are citizens of the Republic of Turkey, and the state guarantees citizens’ freedom of speech, thought, publication and travel. In terms of expanding the right to vote, the Constitution abolished the restriction that only taxpayers have the right to vote. In 1934, Turkey abolished the restriction that only male citizens have the right to vote and allowed women to participate in elections. At the beginning of the founding of the country, because Turkey’s social forces had just awakened and its own strength was limited, it relied more on the power of the government in social governance practice, forming a social governance model dominated by the government.
During this period, the government relied on its own coercive force to promote the process of westernization and secularization of society. In the late 1940s, the government completely removed the influence of religious factors from the country’s education and political systems. In terms of economic development, the government insisted on implementing nationalism to ensure the government’s leading role in economic and social development. In terms of social policy, the Turkish government made overall arrangements for various social activities so that they could move towards the goals set by the government. During this period, the main achievement of Turkey’s social governance was to promote the transformation of Turkish society through economic revival. Secular forces in Turkish society gradually grew stronger, and Westernized and secularized political elites thrived and played an increasingly important role in politics. In 1938, President Kemal died, and his successor had neither the personal charm of President Kemal nor the ability to control the political demands of the growing opposition forces in society. Under strong political pressure, Turkey’s political system changed from a one-party system to a multi-party electoral system in 1946. In general, during this period, Turkey’s social governance was top-down, lacking organizations with sufficient influence to organize society and integrate social resources, and the government occupied an absolute dominant position in social governance.
2. The shift of social governance from government-led to multi-party governance ( 1950-1978 )
Although the Turkish political system changed from a one-party system to a multi-party system in 1946 , the Republican People’s Party still won the general election and continued to govern. However, the opposition Democratic Party gradually gained strength and won the 1950 general election to become the ruling party.
In the early 1950s, the Turkish government adopted an economic policy centered on the development of agriculture, which strengthened the power of family based farmers class. After that, the import substitution industrial policy implemented by the Turkish government promoted industrialization and urbanization and industrial and commercial groups with a certain degree of independence (from the state) were gradually established.
The migration of a large number of laborers from rural areas to cities not only strengthened the working class, but also promoted the emergence and development of various informal networks in cities. In the 1960s, multi-party coalition governments became a prominent phenomenon in Turkey’s political life. The multi-party electoral system enabled different social forces to participate in government and social governance through elections, greatly enhancing the political participation awareness of Turkish citizens. In the late 1960s , left-wing political forces such as workers, college students, intellectuals, and teachers rose, and the once suppressed religious forces returned to the field of social governance, and non-governmental organizations gradually played a role in the field of social governance.
In 1971, the Turkish Entrepreneurs and Businessmen Association (TUSİAD) was established. Its members were composed of big business groups. It has six working groups in the fields of environment, energy, defense industry, agriculture and food, tourism and transportation. The leaders of each group become consultants to the government’s industry advisory committee. After the establishment of this association, other industry associations in Turkey were established one after another. With the establishment of semi-official and civil society organizations such as industrial and commercial associations, Turkey has initially formed a situation of diversified participation in social governance. During this period, Turkey’s political environment became more relaxed, the news media and universities gained autonomy, and government power was constrained by laws and public opinion.
Although the government was still at the center of social governance, its control over society was weakening. In 1960 and 1971, Turkey experienced two military coups. Although after the coup, the military did not seek to establish a military-ruled regime, but tried to establish a military guardianship regime, that is, relying on conventional institutional and legal mechanisms to influence state affairs and protect the interests of the military, this had a huge impact on Turkey’s political and social stability. At the same time, the military coup also suppressed the willingness of the general public to participate in social governance, which profoundly affected the direction of Turkey’s economic and social development. After Turkey achieved the evolution from a one-party system to a multi-party system, the government’s control over society began to weaken, and the political environment gradually relaxed. Different social forces were also able to express their demands by participating in elections. During this period, the adjustment of Turkey’s economic policies led to corresponding changes in the country’s social structure. The import substitution industrial policy promoted Turkey’s industrialization and urbanization process, rural immigrants increased, the working class grew, and various local and religious informal networks took root in cities. At the same time, various industry associations began to appear and began to participate in the social governance agenda, and a social governance model led by the government and participated by social forces gradually took shape.
3. Improvement of the socialization of social governance ( 1980-2002 )
In 1980 , a military coup took place in Turkey. Afterwards, the Turkish National Security Council instructed the establishment of a constitutional assembly and the drafted a new constitution, while announcing the abolition of all political parties and the confiscation of party property. The 1982 Constitution was significantly different from the 1961 Constitution: first, the president’s executive power was expanded, forming a dual administrative system in which the president and the cabinet mutually restricted each other; second, it restricted freedom of the press, freedom of association and individual rights, emphasizing that citizens’ individual rights must not violate national interests and public order.
In April 1983 , the National Security Council announced the lifting of the ban on political parties. In June , more than 14 new political parties were established. The increasing number of new political parties and their active efforts to win voter support in elections have led to an increase in Turkish citizens’ awareness of political participation, resulting in a high voter turnout in the general election. In October 1983, Turkey held a parliamentary election with a voter turnout of 92.3% .
The Motherland Party ANAP won the election and formed a new cabinet as the ruling party. Turgut Özal, chairman of the Motherland Party, became prime minister. The Motherland Party had a strong nationalist color, emphasized the maintenance of national independence and state sovereignty, advocated the political principles of freedom and democracy and a relaxed political environment, and advocated the expansion of local government autonomy. Since then, local governments have been separated from the central government with a highly centralized tradition and have gained greater autonomy in administration and finance. The Özal government has initiated structural adjustments dominated by neoliberal ideas, and Turkey has shifted from an import substitution development strategy to an export-oriented development strategy. These structural adjustments have not only promoted changes in the economic development model, but also spawned the development and growth of emerging industrial and commercial classes.
At the social level, since 1984, the Turkish government has abolished the preferential and subsidy policies enjoyed by state-owned enterprises, implemented fair competition between state-owned enterprises and private enterprises, issued securities and stocks of state-owned enterprises, abolished restrictions on private investment, and expanded the scope of private investment. The development and growth of private enterprises have made them play an increasingly important role in social governance, and non-governmental organizations composed of private business owners have widely covered all areas of social governance. In the 1990s, the Islamic revival movement was gaining momentum, and Islamic political parties emerged, thus challenging the dominant position of secular parties in Turkish politics. During this period, the extensive participation of the people in political governance was a prominent feature of Turkey’s social governance. Although non-governmental organizations were still restricted by the government, their role was significantly improved compared with before. Social organizations such as industrial and commercial associations and various local and religious networks in cities have begun to be active in the field of social governance. Against this background, social organizations in Turkey have developed rapidly and their status has continued to improve. Different social organizations cover different social fields and social classes such as politics, economy, culture, religion, education, labor unions, medical care, youth, women, and children, and play an increasingly important role in social governance.
4. Diversification and integration of social governance methods ( since 2002 )
After the AKP came to power in 2002, many new changes have occurred in Turkey’s social governance, especially in the tools of social governance, resources and other dimensions of social governance, which has shown a trend of complex development. At the legal level, in 2004 , the Turkish government amended the Association Law, which reduced the difficulty of establishing social organizations from the procedural perspective and relaxed restrictions on the sources of funds for social organizations, resulting in unprecedented development of social organizations in Turkey.
After the implementation of the presidential system, according to Presidential Decree No. 17 published in the Official Gazette on September 13 , 2018 , the Association Department of the Ministry of the Interior, which was responsible for the management of non-governmental organizations, was upgraded to the General Directorate of Civil Society Relations, which is responsible for formulating strategies for relations between the government and civil society, ensuring and strengthening coordination and cooperation between public organizations and non-governmental organizations, and improving the effectiveness of non-governmental organizations. The government provides services to non-governmental organizations in an effective manner and strengthens social governance based on the principles of transparency, accountability and participation. At the economic level, globalization and a new economic cycle have brought new opportunities for Turkey’s economic development, enabling the Turkish economy to achieve rapid development in the first 10 years of the 21st century , with an average annual growth rate of GDP of 7.8% . Even though the country suffered from the impact of the 2008 financial crisis and the regional turmoil brought about by the “Arab Spring” upheaval, the country’s economy was able to grow rapidly. As a result, the AKP government had more disposable financial resources, which could be used in the field of social governance through transfer payments. At the political level, in 2013 , the AKP released the ” Vision 2023 ” and launched an ambitious political reform and development plan. After the Gazi Park incident in 2013 , Turkey’s political environment changed. Until the failed military coup in 2016 , the AKP government increased its resource investment in maintaining social stability, continuously strengthened the government’s control over society, and strengthened political centralization.
Despite this, it is an indisputable fact that the strength of social organizations in Turkey has continued to develop during this period. In 2015 , there were 116,197 active associations in Turkish society and 5,158 foundations of various types . After the AKP came to power, the number of registered associations and foundations in Turkey increased by approximately 50% and 13% , respectively . Turkish social organizations are also playing a unique role in the country’s social governance. They integrate social resources and make full use of them by connecting different groups in Turkish society. In March 2018 , the ownership of 55 real estate in Turkey, such as mosques, churches, monasteries and other religious sites, was integrated into four newly established ethnic/religious foundations. This paved the way for the free allocation of immovable properties such as synagogues, churches and monasteries, which are under the administration of the General Assembly of Foundations, to the relevant foundation, which is a very positive development considering that free allocation has only been applied to foundation mosques until now.
Böylece Vakıflar Genel Meclisi’nin idaresinde olan sinagog, kilise, manastır gibi taşınmazların ilgili vakfa bedelsiz olarak tahsis edilebilmesinin önü açılmıştır, ki bedelsiz tahsisin bugüne kadar sadece vakıf camileri için uygulandığı düşünülürse son derece olumlu bir gelişmedir.
As these social organizations grow and develop, they continue to put forward relevant initiatives or exert certain pressure on the government through organized activities, which to a certain extent affects Turkey’s social governance policies.
Social Governance in Türkiye during the AKP Period: Path and Results
Since the beginning of the 21st century, driven by the multipolarization of the world and economic globalization, global social thoughts have been changing, and nationalism and populism has become intertwined. Against this background, the Turkish government led by the AKP has recognized the changes and responded to them, guided by the idea of building a “New Turkey”, and promoted a series of adjustments to national governance. In the field of social governance, the Turkish government aims to modernize the country’s social structure, emphasizes the participation of multiple forces including the government in social management, and is committed to continuously improving the education and living standards of the Turkish people. During the AKP’s rule, social governance was strengthened mainly through the following paths.
1. Promoting economic growth as the core demand and stabilizing the social foundation
As a developing country, Turkey has a low level of economic development and has made a late start in the development of social organizations. Based on the inherent relationship between the two, economic factors play a more important role in social governance. At the same time, Turkey’s status as a developing country also determines that its level of social governance is closely related to its economic development. On the one hand, economic growth provides resources for social governance, enabling different subjects to participate in Turkey’s social governance demands; on the other hand, economic development is also constantly shaping Turkish society and affecting the process of social governance. Therefore, when examining Turkey’s social governance, we should not only examine its social development and changes, but also regard economic development as an important factor in evaluating the effectiveness of social governance.
Unlike developed countries, the AKP came to power largely due to the erosion of the legitimacy of the previous governments parties by the economic crisis. For this reason, after coming to power, the AKP has always regarded promoting economic growth as the core pursuit of governance and has promoted social stability through economic growth to consolidate the legitimacy of the government.
The AKP government continued the neoliberal economic policies of the Özal period and implemented an economic development policy oriented towards marketization, liberalization and privatization, which has achieved certain results in Turkey’s economic development, and the people have also benefited from good economic growth to varying degrees.
From 2002 to 2022 , Turkey achieved a medium-to-high annual growth rate of 5.4% in real GDP , and the per capita national income (calculated in real terms) during the same period also exceeded US$ 10,000 , an increase of more than 1 times. With economic growth, Turkey has entered the ranks of middle- and high-income countries and reduced the size of the poor population. The poverty incidence has dropped from more than 20% in 2007 to 7.6 % in 2021 , a drop of more than half.
The rapid economic growth has strengthened Turkey’s national strength, and the inflation level has been effectively controlled. The inflation rate has been maintained below 10% for a long time until the Federal Reserve’s new round of interest rate hikes in 2021. Economic growth and monetary stability have reduced unemployment in Turkey. Except for the economic crisis in 2008 and several violent economic fluctuations after 2010, the unemployment rate has been kept below 10% , and the Gini coefficient has remained stable at around 0.4 for more than a decade . Therefore, Turkey’s Gini coefficient is in a basically reasonable range, indicating that the gap between the rich and the poor in the country is appropriate, which reduces the risk of causing serious social unrest and social crises in the country, and is beneficial to maintaining social stability.
At the same time, the government further promoted the privatization process of state-owned enterprises and implemented a policy orientation to support the development of the private sector, which gradually developed and expanded Turkish industrial and commercial groups and associations. During the AKP’s rule, the Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurs ( TUSKON ), founded in 2005 , began to emerge in the field of social and economic governance and played an increasingly important role. During this period, the role of social organizations in economic development was mainly reflected in three aspects: first, as beneficiaries of economic reform, economic groups or organizations played an important role in steadily advancing economic reform and building a sound market mechanism; second, economic groups or organizations not only built a huge business network in Turkey, but also established representative offices overseas, becoming a bridge for communication between Turkey and foreign multinational companies, and promoting the development of Turkey’s foreign trade; third, economic groups or organizations strengthened the cooperation between entrepreneurs and businessmen and enhanced their resistance to response and shocks.
In a word, the various economic groups or organizations in Turkey, which have gained huge development space under the promotion of the AKP, have enhanced the resilience of Turkey’s economic development with their unique strength. The increase in income of low-income people has, to a certain extent, enabled the sharing of the fruits of economic development and resolved the root causes of deep-seated social contradictions.
2. Build a social governance system covering multiple fields and promote social equity
In terms of building a social governance system, the Erdogan government has leveraged the dividends of economic growth to increase funding for social development and strive to improve the social security system. In 2003 , at the beginning of its administration, the AKP promulgated reform policies on health care, social insurance and education. The government announced a social policy action plan, putting reforms in health services, social insurance and other aspects on the agenda. In the same year, the Turkish government unified the original several “national insurance plans” into the “General Health Insurance” comprehensive health care system, implemented three-level health care services, and built a comprehensive health insurance system.
In 2003 , the AKP government began to implement the “Health Transformation Plan ( 2003-2013 )” to reorganize the Ministry of Health, strengthen the role of the Ministry of Health in policy formulation, planning, implementation supervision, monitoring and evaluation of the health system, and establish a new public health agency to support the Ministry of Health’s work in disease prevention and health care services.
The Turkish government also redefined the responsibilities of the Ministry of Health, separating the provision of medical insurance from financing, ensuring that medical resources can be more effectively allocated, and thus expanding the coverage of medical insurance. In terms of social security, more than 90% of Turkey’s social expenditure is used for cash benefits. Public pensions account for about 7% of Turkey’s GDP , of which more than 90% of cash benefits are used for pension payments, family and child benefits account for 2.5% , and unemployment benefits account for 1.6% . In 2008 , the Turkish government reformed the pension system, gradually extended the statutory retirement age, and expanded the coverage of health insurance. During the AKP’s rule, the Turkish government continued to improve the private pension system. In 2003 , Turkey began to operate a private pension system. In 2013 , the government amended relevant laws and introduced a national contribution system. In terms of social assistance, the Turkish government established the Ministry of Family and Social Policy to manage poor families and children, provide conditional cash transfers to poor families, and encourage children to go to school and participate in vaccination programs. In addition, Turkey has also passed legislative reforms to raise the retirement age and the minimum payment period, and stipulate that for people who entered the labor market after 2008 , the minimum payment period for receiving a full pension will increase by 100 days each year , reaching 9,000 days by 2028 .
BELEDİYES
From the perspective of the subjects participating in social governance, local governments and social organizations mainly play a supplementary role in social security, making up for the lack of capacity and efficiency of the central government. Although local governments have limited capacity, they are more closely connected with the recipients and are more likely to identify and understand the needs of the recipients.
In addition, local governments can overcome bureaucratic style and provide assistance to recipients more efficiently and quickly by relying on their greater independence. Social organizations have also played an important role in areas such as women, environmental protection, and education, which the government does not pay enough attention to or cannot reach. In terms of women’s rights protection, the Turkish Women ‘s Union and the Association for the Protection of Women ‘s Rights have promoted women’s rights and gender equality. In terms of environmental protection, organizations such as the Turkish Environmental Problems Foundation and the Association for the Protection of Wildlife have raised people’s environmental awareness and the government’s attention to environmental protection through activities and publicity. For example, the Anti-Nuclear Cooperation Platform delayed the Turkish government’s nuclear power plant plan by uniting various groups to put pressure on the government.
In the field of education, some non-governmental organizations have established a huge education service system by integrating educational resources, making up for the government’s insufficient investment in education. According to incomplete statistics, in 2020 , there were 3,757 education foundations in Turkey , which funded outstanding students to complete relevant education. In terms of providing humanitarian assistance, some social organizations are also at the forefront. For example, in the 2023 Turkish earthquake, social organizations such as the Turkish Red Crescent participated in the rapid earthquake relief operation. In addition, some social organizations in Turkey have also created employment opportunities for poor families by providing skills training, microcredit and other means, which to a certain extent makes up for the lack of government power. In summary, the government and social organizations have built a social security system and social assistance system covering different levels and fields in a top-down and bottom-up manner, and extended it to the grassroots level of society, promoting social equity.
3. Strengthening Islamic cultural ties and national identity thus reducing the risk of social conflict
In the first ten years of the AKP’s rule, the rapid economic development eliminated the contradictions amang different classes and groups with different political views in society. However , since 2010 , Turkey’s economic development has been hindered by the impact of the global economic crisis, various contradictions have gradually emerged, and the legitimacy of the AKP’s rule has been eroded to a certain extent. In view of this, the AKP has increased its efforts in social governance to ensure the stability of its rule.
Broad national and cultural common identity will arouse the common emotions of the people and generate a cohesive sense of community, especially in terms of political culture. Based on this, the AKP government, facing the increasingly prominent social contradictions in the country, reinterpreted the history of Turkey and even reinterpreted the history of the Ottoman Empire, constructed a new nationalist discourse system, and strengthened the Islamization of political culture and social culture.
As an Islamic party, the AKP not only emphasizes the Islamic nature of Turkish society, but also takes many measures to strengthen its control over Turkish society, especially during the cleanup and control of the Gulen movement. In social life, the government strengthens the guiding and normative role of Islam in people’s daily life by giving the Ministry of Religious Affairs greater power and supporting its activities.
In 2020 , the Turkish government converted the Ayasofya museum, which functioned as a museum since 1934 , into a mosque. In the field of education, the AKP government streamlined the Ministry of Education and delegated more power to local governments; at the same time, the government also increased its investment in education, and reformed the education system at all stages from preschool education to higher education, approved private schools, and increased the supply of educational resources.
The government also strengthened the Islamic nature of society by increasing and re-structuring Imam-Hatep schools and reforming the curriculum, and won widespread support from religious sects and figures. It is worth noting that the government’s emphasis on the Islamic nature of Turkish society has also had an impact on the status and rights of women in Turkish society. The AKP government not only gradually lifted the headscarf ban on all state departments and the education system, but also gradually reversed the gender equality measures which it had promoted in its early years after the process of joining the European Union was blocked, and announced in 2021 that it would withdraw from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence signed in 2011 to protect women’s rights.
In addition, during the AKP’s rule, the government also strengthened the rigid execution of social governance using the institutional levers. In 2010 , Turkey amended its constitution to weaken the independence of the Turkish judicial system and to reduce the supervision of the government. In 2014 , Turkey achieved direct presidential elections. In 2017 , the country adopted a constitutional referendum to establish a transition from a parliamentary system to a presidential system, strengthening the ruling party’s power of administrative intervention and ensuring the effective implementation of its strict social governance. Major social security threats such as protests, marches, terrorist activities and attempted military coups were contained, and the chaotic situation that appeared in Turkish politics in the 1990s was avoided. However , the relationship between social stability and social vitality has become a major practical issue facing the AKP in social governance .
Current social governance in Türkiye: Main Problems Faced
The AKP has achieved remarkable results in Turkey’s 20 years of social governance, especially in the first decade of the 21st century , when the national economy achieved rapid growth and social development has achieved long-term stability. However, the AKP is now facing multiple challenges in Turkey’s social governance.
1. The slowdown in economic growth has affected the improvement of people’s livelihood
The AKP government has continued Turkey’s neoliberal reforms that began in the 1980s , further promoted the transformation of Turkey’s economy to an export-oriented economy, and strengthened the connection between Turkey’s economy and the world economy. Although this is one of the important reasons for Turkey’s rapid economic growth, it also made Turkey’s economy vulnerable to the external international environment.
In recent years, weak economic growth has constrained the improvement of people’s living standards. On the one hand, Turkey’s unemployment rate did not decrease significantly during the AKP’s rule, and the solidification of the export-oriented economic model made Turkey’s economy extremely vulnerable to external economic fluctuations. In the first ten years of the AKP’s rule, Turkey’s unemployment rate fluctuated between 9% and 10% . After the economic crisis in 2008 , Turkey’s economy was hit hard and the unemployment rate rose rapidly, reaching 13.04% in 2009.
Although the Turkish government quickly stabilized economic fluctuations through good fiscal policies and reduced the unemployment rate to below 10% , after the parliamentary system turned to the presidential system, the AKP government’s economic policies further exacerbated Turkey’s economic fluctuations, and led to a re-increase in unemployment, a depreciation of the Türk lira and increased inflation. Turkey’s unemployment rate once again exceeded 10% and reached a peak of 13.73% in 2019. On the other hand, the inflation rate remains high and continues to rise. As a developing country, Turkey has to deal with the unfavorable economic situation of foreign capital withdrawal and the huge pressure brought by rising energy prices under the cyclical effect of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes. The sharp rise in inflation has had a negative impact on people’s living standards. Taking the price in 2003 as the benchmark ( 100 ) , Turkey’s consumer price index ( CPI ) has increased 20 times in 20 years , reaching 2319.29 in June 2024. In addition, although the gap between the rich and the poor in Turkey narrowed to a certain extent in the first ten years of the AKP’s rule, the gap between the rich and the poor began to widen as Turkey’s economic growth slowed down since 2010 , and the Gini coefficient increased from 0.39 in 2010 to 0.44 in 2021. Recently , although Turkey’s unemployment problem has been alleviated to a certain extent, the inflation rate has not been significantly reduced, and the gap between the rich and the poor has not been fundamentally improved. In the long run, economic development will be hindered and the government will lack fiscal spending for social governance, which will shake the foundation of Turkey’s social stability and negatively affect the advancement of Turkey’s social governance process.
2. The focus of social governance has shifted upward, and the role of social organizations has been suppressed
The neoliberal reforms that began in the 1980s have gradually strengthened the vitality of Turkish society, and a large number of social organizations have emerged, which have played an increasingly important role in social governance. However, as the AKP returned to strengthen its ruling position in social governance, it increased its control over society, which prevented the role of social organizations to fully their roles, and the independent role of social organizations was also weakened to a certain extent.
The main manifestations are: First, although the Turkish government supports the development of social organizations through legislation and other means, based on the government’s dominant position in social governance, AKP government makes choices among social organizations in accordance with official ideology and adopts different attitudes towards different social organizations.
This has limited the initiative of social organizations, making it difficult for them to fully play their own initiatives, and has also reduced the influence of social organizations on the formulation of government policies.
Second, the government’s dominant position in social governance gives it the power to determine the allocation of relevant resources. Some government officials can allocate resources according to their own preferences and needs, resulting in collusion between officials and businessmen, the prevalence of nepotism, and causes the vassalage of business groups to the government.
In the 2023 Turkish earthquake, a large number of substandard houses collapsed due to corruption, exacerbating the losses of the disaster.
Third, although the number of social organizations in Turkey has increased rapidly and their field coverage has expanded, they are mainly concentrated in large cities such as Istanbul and Ankara, with insufficient coverage in rural areas. In addition, there are common phenomena such as overlapping coverage and poor communication between different social organizations, which makes it difficult to fully utilize the resources used for social governance, thus negatively affecting the full play of the effectiveness of social organizations. Of course, Turkey’s social development process is different from that of Western developed countries, and there are great differences in national conditions, but Turkey also needs to attach importance to the unique role of social organizations and achieve a balance between the government and other social governance entities such as social organizations.
3. Strengthening of social control by the government exacerbates social division and confrontation
The AKP government has strengthened its control over Turkish society and maintained the stability of its own regime by strengthening Islamic cultural ties and national identity and other measures. However, in the long run, the strengthening of social control has also had a negative impact on Turkey’s social governance.
First, the AKP’s strengthening of the Islamic attributes of Turkish society has widened the divisions in Turkish society, intensified the confrontation between Islamism and secularism in Turkish society, and affected the direction of Turkey’s political situation.
Second, the strengthening of Islamic attributes and nationalism has not only made Turkish society increasingly conservative, but also had an impact on Turkish immigrants and Turkish communities in European countries, intensified the conflicts and confrontations between Turkish immigrants and the nationals of the host countries, and further had a negative impact on Turkey’s relations with European countries, which is not conducive to the advancement of Turkey’s accession to the European Union.
Third, the impact of the strengthening of Islamic attributes in Turkish society is also reflected in gender relations, resulting in the suppression of Turkish women’s rights and the aggravation of gender inequality.
According to the 2012 World Gender Gap Index released by the World Economic Forum, Turkey ranked 124th out of 135 countries , indicating that gender inequality is widespread in all areas of Turkish society.
Fourth, the government’s emphasis on official ideology and its refusal to identify with different ethnic groups and cultural groups have greatly strengthened nationalism in Turkish society, exacerbated conflicts and confrontations between different ethnic groups in Turkey, and had a negative impact on the governance of its ethnic minorities.
It is worth noting that the AKP government’s increased control over society, while it can bring about social stability and Erdogan’s re-election as president in the general election in the short term, has also brought about new social problems. In recent years, protests by teachers and students at Bogazici University against the government’s appointment of university presidents and strikes by doctors’ social organizations during the COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control period have shown that the division and confrontation in Turkish society are far from over.
In short, from the perspective of factors affecting Turkey’s social governance, economic development will restrict Turkey’s social governance level for a long time, because sustained economic growth is the material basis for the government to implement social governance policies.
Turkey’s economic structure problem will still be the core issue restricting the government’s social governance level. After more than 40 years of economic structural reform, Turkey’s economy has formed an export-oriented system relying on investment and exports, and its dependence on export trade is increasing.
At the same time, as a resource-dependent country, Turkey’s domestic production is highly dependent on energy imports. The two factors of export dependence and energy dependence determine that Turkey’s economy is extremely vulnerable to the external environment. Moreover, after the AKP came to power, Turkey’s rapid economic development relied more on increased investment. Once investment decreases, Turkey’s economy is likely to fall into a vicious cycle of reduced investment → slowing growth → declining investment attractiveness.
Therefore, how to adjust Turkey’s economic structure will still be the core issue restricting Turkey’s social governance level. In addition, the level of participation of non-governmental organizations in social governance will also affect Turkey’s social governance level. After the failed military coup in Turkey in 2016 , the AKP gradually strengthened its control over Turkish society. The independence of various social organizations and groups was weakened, social organizations were restricted to varying degrees, and the voices against the government seemed to have weakened. However, the government’s social governance cannot cover all aspects of society after all, and the interests of the people will be damaged. If the public’s dissatisfaction cannot be effectively released, the hidden worries of social governance will continue to exist. More importantly, the division and confrontation in Turkish society will affect the effectiveness of Turkey’s social governance. To a large extent, the AKP government has strengthened the Islamic attributes of Turkish society and encouraged the development of nationalism in order to maintain its own legitimacy and gain public support. Although these measures have maintained the AKP’s rule and kept Turkish society relatively stable, they have also intensified the division and confrontation in Turkish society. In the long run, this will affect Turkey’s future political operation and the direction of the political situation, and further weaken the social governance effect of the Turkish government.
Conclusion
Looking back at the more than 20 years of the AKP’s rule , the rapid economic and social development in Turkey in the first 10 years laid a solid economic foundation for subsequent social governance. Since the 1980s , Turkey has achieved rapid economic growth in the promotion of neoliberal reforms, which has also promoted the expansion of social organizations in terms of quantity and variety of fields, and formed a social governance feature dominated by the government and played an important role by social organizations.
After the AKP came to power, this social governance model was further developed. The government has guaranteed the basic needs of Turkish society by developing the economy, establishing a medical insurance system that covers urban and rural populations, and continuously improving the social insurance system, so that Turkish society has remained relatively stable for a long period of time. At the same time, on the basis of the government’s guarantee, social organizations also play an important supplementary role in Turkey’s social governance.
Non-governmental organizations can effectively connect with areas that the government cannot reach by giving full play to their own characteristics of covering a wide range of fields and being closer to society, and have achieved comprehensive coverage of multiple fields and aspects of Turkish society, thus improving the efficiency and effectiveness of Turkey’s social governance. Turkey’s widely covered social security system and medical and health system have promoted social equity to a certain extent, and the social assistance system that goes deep into the community has effectively reduced social risks.
At the same time, driven by the policy target of joining the European Union, the free and relaxed political environment also provides opportunities for the development of non-governmental organizations. Turkey has gradually formed a two-way social governance mechanism from top to bottom and from bottom to top, and social governance has achieved certain results. Although the AKP’s social governance is considered to be a process of “taming” non-governmental organizations, it has caused the politicization, isolation and disability of non-governmental organizations. However, in the presidential election in June 2023 , President Erdogan defeated the presidential candidate Kılıçdaroglu, nominated by the opposition coalition, and his continued rule is enough to show that the AKP has a strong popular support. In the local elections in March 2024 , the opposition Republican People’s Party won 36 mayoral seats including the capital Ankara and the largest city Istanbul, while the AKP only won 24 seats. The AKP’s failure in the election is not only the result of voters’ disappointment with the AKP’s economic policies and inappropriate response to the Gaza crisis, but also highlights the continued accumulation of dissatisfaction of the Turkish people with the AKP’s governance.
At present, the countries in the “global south” are rising, and they want to achieve national modernization by improving the ruling party’s ability to govern. As an emerging economy and developing country, Turkey’s social governance has distinct characteristics of a latecomer. Turkey’s social governance practices, experiences, and lessons during the AKP’s rule provide some inspiration for other countries in the “global south”:
First, these countries need to consolidate the economic foundation of social governance. Economic development is a fundamental issue for the modernization of social governance in the “global south”. To solve the problem of social governance, they should first attach importance to the fundamental role of the economic development in social governance. The vast majority of developing countries are generally faced with the dilemma of hindered economic development and difficulty in increasing people’s income, which also restricts the effectiveness of social governance in developing countries. Both the government and social organizations find it difficult to operate normally in the absence of resources.
Therefore, for the vast majority of developing countries, economic development is the only way to create wealth and obtain resources, and can provide more resources and means for social governance. Economic development can create a more favorable living environment, improved people’s living standards, and can provide both the government and social organizations with resources to support their governance of society. The government can effectively improve the effectiveness of social governance by providing more infrastructure and services such as pension, medical care, and education for the people.
Second, these countries need to properly handle the relationship between the government and society based on the rule of law and balance the roles of the government and social organizations. Unlike developed countries, the social development level of most developing countries is generally low, and social organizations are relatively limited in both quantity and capacity, so it is difficult for them to play a sufficient role in social governance.
In view of this, developing countries should not only pay attention to the role of social organizations in social governance, but also give full play to the role of the government. The rule of law is regarded as the lowest cost, most stable and generally accepted way of governance. After the AKP came to power, it won a long-term ruling position through a series of measures such as amending the constitution, revising the Association Law, and establishing the Association Department (later upgraded to the General Administration of Civil Society Relations). On the one hand, the AKP government relied on its own national leadership and the advantage of being able to coordinate the overall situation to deal with key issues that restrict social governance. On the other hand, AKP government provided sufficient space and policy support for the development and role of social organizations, maintained a certain degree of independence in society, and promoted social development. The practice of social governance in Turkey shows that there is a positive correlation between the rule of law and development, and between the rule of law and social governance. Implementing the national development concept with the rule of law thinking and the rule of law approach can promote social governance.
Third, in such developing countries it is necessary to fully mobilize the initiative of various social governance entities to activate social vitality and promote social equity. As the leader of national social governance, the government needs to give full play to the role of various social governance entities such as non-governmental organizations. A sound system or mechanism is the premise for the government and social organizations to fully play their role in social governance. Therefore, the government needs to clarify the division of labor, fields and content of the government and social organizations in social governance by establishing a sound mechanism. Such a move can not only avoid mutual interference between the government and social organizations, but also avoid duplication of work and waste of resources in social governance, and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of social governance. As the ruling party of Turkey, the AKP is the leader of the country’s modernization development cause, and it is also the most important subject of social governance, playing the dual roles of organizer and implementer. Its experience and lessons in dealing with the relationship between social stability and economic development, the relationship between social order and social vitality, and the construction of top-down and bottom-up social mechanisms are worthy of reflection by other developing countries.
In addition, Turkey itself needs to innovate social governance methods. In the context of the new technological industrial revolution, Turkey, which does not have advantages in resources, technology, and population, needs to keep pace with the times and empower social governance through the Internet, artificial intelligence, and big data. In this process, integrating into the world economic system and achieving leapfrog economic development through scientific and technological innovation will become the main direction of Turkey’s future social governance.