ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the term 'local party elites' refers to both provincial and district chairs in considering their common characteristics, while chairs will occasionally be referred to as provincial chair or district chair specifically when comparing them. It focuses on the socioeconomic backgrounds of provincial and district branch chairs of the Justice and Development Party and the Republican People's Party. The chapter discusses continuities and changes in characteristics of these chair holders by comparing them to their predecessors analyses in earlier studies. Turkish political parties employ strong structural relations through their detailed intra-party regulations; and many scholars have recognized the parties' concentration of power at the central level. The age distribution of party elites is one of the most common attributes for analysis in both national and local political elite studies, with findings varying from country to country. Indeed, Tachau earlier defined Turkish political parties as modernised organizations.