ABSTRACT
Why have elites in Turkey coalesced around a strong majoritarian form of electoral democracy bordering on autocracy and why have they been unable to unite around a successful development project? From at least 1950 democratically elected elites have viewed electoral majoritarianism as the best option to contest for control of the state with unelected elites in the Deep State enabling those elites to cast their electoral victories as reflecting the will of a pious and conservative people against unelected Western educated tutelary elites in the state. Unfortunately, as is now obvious, such a conception of democracy can contribute to democratic backsliding. To make matters worse, elites in Turkey have failed to unite around a credible development strategy opting instead to use economic policies to strengthen their hold on politics. This combination has left Turkey with a fragile electoral majoritarian democracy and poor development performance.
