ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the mechanisms that transformed Turkey from a fledgling democracy to an electoral autocracy under the AKP (Justice and Development Party) rule. Government branches and societal institutions gradually lost their democratic capacity during this period as a result of autocratizing policies and practices that undermined democratic laws and traditions. After providing the background for the rise of the AKP to power, we focus on four areas in which autocratization is readily traceable: the media, the judiciary, civil society, and academia.
