How sovereign is a populist? The nexus between populism and political economy of the AKP

Bibliographic Data

ID12697247
AuthorsHüseyin Zengin (0000-0003-3637-1236, University of Pittsburgh, corresponding author), Hakan Ovunc Ongur (0000-0002-8832-3693, Department of Political Science and International Relations, TOBB University of Economics and Technology, Ankara, Turkey)
Year2019
Volume21
Issue4
Pages578-595
Publication date2019-11-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTurkish Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1468-3849 • E-ISSN: 1743-9663
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14683849.2019.1691921
OpenAlexW2986306878
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited19

This article investigates the effects of populist discourse on leadership and state behavior at the international level. From 2002 to 2013, Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) gradually consolidated its power, largely by deploying populist discourses and actions. However, after the party faced a number of challenges, including the Gezi protests, corruption allegations, and a failed coup, its populist rhetoric did not only begin to weaken but also seems to have created a problem of path dependency, which limited the decision-making capability at the hands of its leadership. By comparing the 2001–2002 and 2018–2019 economic crises based on the most-likely case research design, we assert that the AKP’s discursive turn into anti-Western and anti-establishment politics pushed the party into a corner, making it less likely to collaborate with international organizations, such as the IMF and even private consulting companies despite the country’s high inflation rates and currency depreciation

Economics · Language change · Nexus (standard · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Populism · Power (physics · Rhetoric · Sovereignty · State (computer science · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · State Capitalism and Financial Governance · Turkey's Politics and Society

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