ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on how parties 'do politics' once in municipal office. It also focuses on vary practical aspects that constitute the backbone of everyday municipalism: establishing and maintaining contact with citizens by a variety of tools, as well as the bodily and emotional aspects of it. Another important reason for the success of conservative municipalism lay in the political talent of its leading figure, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The local party organisation is immensely important for the mayor and the municipalities as it connects the mayor and his citizens, provides welfare, and is an important back office with additional financial means, manpower and different access. Mayors and municipalities practice symbolic politics with a variety of social groups to integrate them into the political process. Both Konya and Eskisehir Metropolitan municipalities cooperate with civil society organisations (CSOs) in their municipal centres to promote party policies.
