The AKP’s clientelist–machine politics and the role of Kurdish brokers
The case of Bağcılar
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6094059 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ibrahim Kuran (0000-0002-4739-2828, Istanbul Medeniyet University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 71 |
| Pages | 121-142 |
| Publication date | 2024-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | New Perspectives on Turkey (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0896-6346 • E-ISSN: 1305-3299 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/npt.2023.32 |
| OpenAlex | W4391228853 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 33 |
Although there are numerous studies showing the significance of clientelism in the electoral mobilization of the poor in Turkey, scant attention has been paid on the specific clientelistic strategies employed by the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi; AKP) among the Kurdish population in İstanbul. Addressing this gap, this study focuses on the AKP’s clientelist politics among Kurdish voters in Bağcılar, a lower-income district on the European side of İstanbul. Drawing on fieldwork, this study argues that the AKP successfully mobilizes Kurdish voters through machine politics and relational clientelism, which are facilitated by co-ethnic brokerage and intermediary linkages. By analyzing different modalities of Kurdish brokers – Kurdish (male) entrepreneurs, Kurdish housewives and Kurdish associations – the study discloses the intricate dynamics of the AKP’s clientelist–machine politics at the local level. It reveals that the AKP’s co-ethnic brokers not only distribute material benefits but also cultivate enduring personal relationships with Kurdish voters, providing problem-solving networks for the Kurdish poor in everyday life. The AKP’s co-ethnic brokerage relations foster trust, care, solidarity, and affectivity among Kurds. The study concludes that the AKP employs both material and symbolic dimensions of clientelism to mobilize the Kurdish electorate in İstanbul
Clientelism · Democracy · Economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Turkey's Politics and Society
Votes for Survival
The Mobilization of Political Islam in Turkey
Conquering the state and subordinating society under AKP rule
Brokers, Voters, and Clientelism
From Labor Politics to Machine Politics
Clientelism in Northeast Brazil
How does clientelism foster electoral dominance? Evidence from Turkey
Interdisciplinary Approaches to Political Clientelism and Patronage in Turkey
Rational political parties and electoral games
Remaking the public through the square
The burden of Sisyphus
Struggling for the Kurdish vote
Turkey and the Global Economy
Clientelism, Social Policy, and the Quality of Democracy
Political Parties and Grassroots Clientelist Strategies in Urban Turkey
Ethnic and Islamist populism in Turkey and its impact on Kurdish nationalism
Religion and ethno‐nationalism
Who gets targeted for vote-buying? Evidence from an augmented list experiment in Turkey
Clientelism and dominant incumbent parties
Local determinants of an emerging electoral hegemony
Distributive Politics in a Multiparty System
Beyond the Machine
Working-class entrepreneurialism
How populists securitize elections to win them
Governing ethnic unrest
Poor people's lives and politics
Afterword
Corruption, Machine Politics, and Political Change
Political Clientelism in Mexico
Brokers Beyond Clientelism
Curbing Kurdish ethno-nationalism in Turkey
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |