An Essential Center–periphery Electoral Cleavage and the Turkish Party System

Datos Bibliográficos

ID8970586
AutoresF Michael Wuthrich (0000-0002-7614-9886, autor de correspondencia)
Año2013
Volumen45
Número4
Páginas751-773
Fecha de publicación2013-10-15
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Journal Middle East Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0020-7438 • E-ISSN: 1471-6380
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0020743813000895
OpenAlexW2157813846
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas16
Referencias citadas55

For nearly forty years, scholars have utilized the metanarrative of a center–periphery cleavage first proposed by Şerif Mardin to explain a variety of phenomena in Turkish politics and society. When used to interpret electoral cleavages in the multiparty period, however, a center–periphery cleavage cannot effectively explain electoral outcomes. Focusing on the initial stage of multiparty competition, when the cleavage is often said to have been most salient, this article explores the empirical evidence to show that the concept as commonly employed has actually confounded an effective understanding of electoral behavior in Turkey. Rather than demonstrating a clear electoral division between the elites of the social center and the masses during this period, the article reveals two distinct cross-cutting patron-client strategies used by elite-dominated parties to cater to the rural population. The significant patterns of change in Turkey's electoral outcomes over time further illustrate the need to focus on how political parties and elites accumulate votes—that is, on their vote targeting strategies—rather than rely on static sociopolitical cleavages

Cleavage (geology · Electoral geography · Elite · Metanarrative · Narrative · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Population · Salient · Sociology · Turkish · Demography · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Turkey's Politics and Society