A Tale of Two Mayors

Courts and Politics in Iran and Turkey

Bibliographic Data

ID8970599
AuthorsHootan Shambayati (Bilkent University, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume36
Issue2
Pages253-275
Publication date2004-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal Middle East Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-7438 • E-ISSN: 1471-6380
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0020743804362057
OpenAlexW2012102572
LanguageEN
Citations received14

Countries such as Iran and Turkey do not fit comfortably into the democratic and authoritarian categories. In these countries, elections are held regularly, and the will of the people is accepted as one source of sovereignty. At the same time, both constitutionally and in practice the elected officials have to share the exercise of political power with institutions that do not draw their power directly from the will of the people. In such systems, the judiciary has two important political functions. First, the judiciary acts as a politically insulated decision-maker through which the unelected head can exercise some degree of control over the actions of the elected head. Second, the judiciary's direct involvement in the political arena increases political tensions and legitimates the continuation of the two-headed system. In systems based on divided sovereignty, the tensions created by the judicialization of politics contribute to the stability of the regime

Authoritarianism · Democracy · Political economy · Political science · Political system · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · Sovereignty · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Turkey's Politics and Society

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