ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the institutionalization level of the party system in comparison to other new democracies in order to grasp to what extent political party behavior in Turkey can be predicted. The dynamics of the post-1980 Turkish party system are examined by studying the type of party system, which provides a hint about the structure and rules of the party competition. The main theories developed for explaining party competition focus on established democracies; however, the case study under inspection here is not an established democracy. Therefore, the predictability of the party system and party behavior should be analyzed before delving into analysis.
Results revealed that the party system institutionalization level of Turkey was higher on average than the new democracies of Central and Eastern Europe, and at the same level with the new democracies of Asia and Latin America; however, they fall behind the established democracies. In the post-1980 party system, the indicators of party system structure such as high turnout rates, falling electoral volatility, reduction in fragmentation and fractionalization levels, and increase in ideological polarization show that the Turkish party system is either on the way to getting consolidated or becoming hyper-institutionalized.
