Publication: Debates on government system in Turkey: transition to presidential system
Abstract
Türkiye’de özellikle 1960’dan sonra hükümet sistemi tartışmalarına neden olan ve Nisan 2017 referandumu cumhurbaşkanlığı sistemi ile son bulan Türk parlamenter sistemi, çok partili yaşama geçişten itibaren sık sık kesintiye uğramıştır. Bu süreçte ortaya çıkan istikrar arayışları, sık sık değiştirilen seçim sistemleri aracılığıyla parlamentoda tek partinin çoğunluğu elde etmesini sağlama çabalarını, sık sık değiştirilen anayasal düzenlemelerle yasama-yürütme ilişkilerinin yeniden düzenlenmesini, ya da çok partili yaşama geçişten günümüze tecrübe edilen askeri müdahaleleri gündeme getirmiştir. Bu bağlamda, Türkiye’de hükümet sistemlerinin işleyişindeki istikrar arayışı ve bunun tarihsel-kurumsal kökenleri 1990’lı yıllarda gelişen Yeni Kurumsalcılığın bir alt dalı olan Tarihsel Kurumsalcılık (TK) yaklaşımının benimsediği kurum tanımıyla ele alınmıştır. Kurumları, formal ve informal kuralların bir birleşimi olarak tanımlayan TK, aktör davranışlarının da bu kurallardan oluşmuş yapı tarafından şekilllendirildiğine inanır. Ayrıca, kurumların ilk kurulduklarında tercih ettikleri politikaların, kurumun geleceğinde de alacağı kararları etkileyeceğini, izlek bağımlılığı tanımıyla ele almaktadır ve izlek bağımlılığından sapmayı kritik kavşak olarak adlandırmaktadır. Bununla birlikte, 1961 anayasasının 1970’lerdeki etkisi Türkiye’de yürütmenin üstünlüğüne dayalı yönetim anlayışından kısmi bir sapma olarak nitelendirilebilirse de, izleyen süreçte yürütmeyi güçlendirecek politikaların uygulanması izleğin devamlılığını sağlamıştır. Nitekim 2017 Nisan referandumuyla ortaya çıkan sistem, aslında yürütmenin üstünlüğüne dayalı bir yönetim anlayışına ve devlet geleneğine sahip olan Türkiye için bir kritik kavşak olarak değil, bilakis izlek bağımlılığın devamı olarak analiz edilmiştir.
The Turkish parliamentary system, which caused government system debates especially after 1960s and ended up presidential system with April, 2017 referendum, had been interrupted frequently as of multi-party system. The pursuit of stability in this process brought up the situations as; searching for one party majority in system through overchanging electoral systems; reorginising the relations between legislation and executive through constitutional regulations; military interventions which was experienced since multi party life. In this context, seeking stability in the functioning of the government system in Turkey and its historical-institutional origins were approached as institution defined by historical new institutionalism which is sub-branch of new institutionalism developed by 1990s. According to HI, institutions are combinations of formal and informal rules and actor’s behaviour are shaped through the structure formed by these rules. Moreover, HI believes that preferred political decisions at the beginning, would affect the political decisions for future and HI defined this continuity as path dependency and termed the deviation from this path as critical juncture. In addition to this, although effect of the constitution of 1961 on the period of 1970s may be characterized as a partial deviation from the manner of rule based on superiority of executive, in the ongoing process, the implementation of policies that will strengthen the executive ensured the continuity of the path. Thus, the system occurred by April, 2017 referendum was analyzed as not a critical juncture but as a path dependency for Turkey which has a sense of rule and state tradition based on superiority of executive.
The Turkish parliamentary system, which caused government system debates especially after 1960s and ended up presidential system with April, 2017 referendum, had been interrupted frequently as of multi-party system. The pursuit of stability in this process brought up the situations as; searching for one party majority in system through overchanging electoral systems; reorginising the relations between legislation and executive through constitutional regulations; military interventions which was experienced since multi party life. In this context, seeking stability in the functioning of the government system in Turkey and its historical-institutional origins were approached as institution defined by historical new institutionalism which is sub-branch of new institutionalism developed by 1990s. According to HI, institutions are combinations of formal and informal rules and actor’s behaviour are shaped through the structure formed by these rules. Moreover, HI believes that preferred political decisions at the beginning, would affect the political decisions for future and HI defined this continuity as path dependency and termed the deviation from this path as critical juncture. In addition to this, although effect of the constitution of 1961 on the period of 1970s may be characterized as a partial deviation from the manner of rule based on superiority of executive, in the ongoing process, the implementation of policies that will strengthen the executive ensured the continuity of the path. Thus, the system occurred by April, 2017 referendum was analyzed as not a critical juncture but as a path dependency for Turkey which has a sense of rule and state tradition based on superiority of executive.