ABSTRACT
The Turkish party system has long been criticized for its highly centralized structure and its lack of internal democracy (Bektas¸ 1993; Özbudun 2000; Tuncay 2000; Yanık 2002; Özdalga 2005; Turan 2006). It is well-known, for instance, that local party offices across the political spectrum are pressured by party headquarters, with senior party officials influencing the composition, decisions, and actions of local party offices. The close involvement of the center in local political affairs was well-illustrated in the wake of the local elections of March 2009, when Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan expelled eight long-time members of the Council of Ministers from the cabinet for failing to deliver key municipalities to his ruling party. This incident also consolidated the perception within parties that it is not local people but officials in Ankara who are responsible for managing local election races and party offices. From choosing candidates to preparing and implementing the campaign, these ministers had been intimately involved in local municipal races to such an extent that they were held personally responsible for the loss of these cities. 2 Clearly, in this case, “local” politics was not synonymous with local influence or autonomy from national affairs.
