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Why Decentralization Fails: A Case Study of Turkey

Why Decentralization Fails: A Case Study of Turkey In Turkey, administrative decentralization is a political issue rather than a technical one. the central government follows up centralization policies associated with intensive administrative supervision with three mechanisms according to ‘who governs the muni- cipality’: The opposition municipalities, especially from the main opposition party, CHP (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi) are systematically supervised by the inspectors of the Interior Ministry while appointed trustees (kayyım or kayyum) are given control in the munici- palities governed by the pro-Kurdish party (HDP). To expand on these mechanisms, the empirical data in this study were drawn from fieldwork conducted in April 2015 in the Istanbul metropolitan municipality (IMM), two district municipalities, and the Istanbul gubernatorial (IG). This was important to show how the Municipal Act No. 6360 transformed the relationship between the gubernatorial and the metropolitan munici- pality, and how the metropolitan municipality exercises centralization over district municipalities, especially the ones governed by opposition parties. As a result, in a highly centralized public administration, municipalities do not yet have sufficient autonomous competence over public services. The absence of an institutionalized state structure represents the main reason for the administrative centralization. On this point, reasons for excessive centralization in Turkey were analyzed within the framework of http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies Taylor & Francis

Why Decentralization Fails: A Case Study of Turkey

Yildirim, Galip Emre
Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies , Volume OnlineFirst: 21 – Mar 6, 2023
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Why Decentralization Fails: A Case Study of Turkey

Abstract

In Turkey, administrative decentralization is a political issue rather than a technical one. the central government follows up centralization policies associated with intensive administrative supervision with three mechanisms according to ‘who governs the muni- cipality’: The opposition municipalities, especially from the main opposition party, CHP (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi) are systematically supervised by the inspectors of the Interior Ministry while appointed trustees...
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
© 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
ISSN
1944-8961
eISSN
1944-8953
DOI
10.1080/19448953.2023.2167173
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

In Turkey, administrative decentralization is a political issue rather than a technical one. the central government follows up centralization policies associated with intensive administrative supervision with three mechanisms according to ‘who governs the muni- cipality’: The opposition municipalities, especially from the main opposition party, CHP (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi) are systematically supervised by the inspectors of the Interior Ministry while appointed trustees (kayyım or kayyum) are given control in the munici- palities governed by the pro-Kurdish party (HDP). To expand on these mechanisms, the empirical data in this study were drawn from fieldwork conducted in April 2015 in the Istanbul metropolitan municipality (IMM), two district municipalities, and the Istanbul gubernatorial (IG). This was important to show how the Municipal Act No. 6360 transformed the relationship between the gubernatorial and the metropolitan munici- pality, and how the metropolitan municipality exercises centralization over district municipalities, especially the ones governed by opposition parties. As a result, in a highly centralized public administration, municipalities do not yet have sufficient autonomous competence over public services. The absence of an institutionalized state structure represents the main reason for the administrative centralization. On this point, reasons for excessive centralization in Turkey were analyzed within the framework of

Journal

Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies – Taylor & Francis

Published: Mar 6, 2023

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