Turkey Under Erdoğan: Investigating the Relationship Between Populism and Governance Quality Since 2013

Abstract

Over the past decade, Turkish society and politics seem to have witnessed a populist turn. Events such as the suppression of the 2013 Gezi Park protests, the 2016 failed coup, the 2017 constitutional amendments that expanded presidential powers, the extensive influence over the judiciary, the deepened political polarization, the weakened mechanisms of political representation and mediation, the strengthening of plebiscitary relations, and the overall shift toward personalist rule have led numerous analysts of populism, as well as prominent media outlets like The Guardian, Bloomberg, The New York Times, and Foreign Policy, to label Erdoğan and the Justice and Development Party as "populists." Accordingly, Turkey's society and political system, particularly over the past decade, seems to have experienced a significant erosion of democratic values, norms, and institutions. Populist policies have challenged the quality of governance in the country. The main objective of this research, therefore, is to investigate the relationship between Erdoğan's populist policies and governance quality from 2013 to 2023, utilizing critical approaches to populism and a combination of quality of governance indicators and "quality of democracy" dimensions. Statistical data is extracted from databases such as the World Governance Indicators, Varieties of Democracy Project, Freedom House, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, as well as The Legatum Prosperity Index. The research findings show that Erdoğan's policies have had an adverse impact on the quality of governance and democratic values in the country during his second term in office since 2013, compared to the early years of coming to power.