Political Consequences of Welfare Regimes: Social Assistance and Support for Presidentialism in Turkey

ABSTRACT

Tackling redistributive expansion in developing countries, this paper explores broader political consequences of social assistance programmes. Drawing from the Turkish case, where social welfare expanded since the 2000s, it examines attitudes of social assistance beneficiaries towards transition to presidentialism, which was approved in a referendum in 2017, and took effect in 2018. Using the results of an original survey, it indicates that social assistance benefits played a significant role in increasing support for presidentialism, by garnering votes from opposition voters, especially those with high-risk perceptions, in return for benefits. Given the character of Turkish presidentialism, devoid of vital checks and balances, the findings reveal that incumbents can mobilise support by using redistributive instruments in the context of democratic backsliding.     

Someone else's feet

Abstract

Our Life was a succession of quiet days spent placidly inside thick wall of phlegmatic indifference. We lived in a strange state of imprisonment, entirely cut off from the outside, yet we had no thought of escaping nor the least enthusiasm for news of the outside. You could say that, for us, the outside world just didn't exist. Inside our wall, we lived quite fully and cheerfully.     

“A strange job”

Abstract

I was heading toward the clock tower along the broad pavement leading to Tokyo University Hospital and had reached the intersection where the view suddenly opens up to a wide vista, when I heard a lot of dogs barking. The sound came from somewhere near a building under construction, its steel framework jutting up against the sky behind the swaying tops of the saplings lining the avenue. Each time the wind shifted, the sound of the dogs swelled violently as if the terrible clamor were rising to the sky itself. Then the sounds would trail off, the echoes lingering persistently in the distance. Every time I'd walk along this road, head bent, shoulders hunched forward, I'd strain my ears as I came to the intersection, half-expecting to hear the dogs, although there were many times I never heard them at all. But anyway, it wasn't because these howling dogs aroused any particular concern in me.     

Political Islam at the crossroads: From hegemony to co-existence

Politically, Turkey constitutes an unusual case where Islamists have been allowed to share power, as a dominant partner in a coalition government, in a broadly open and a strongly secularist political environment. Hence, it provides an interesting context in which to investigate the complex issue concerning the relationship between Islamism and liberal democracy. This article investigates the processes leading to the transformation of Islamists in Turkey from 'moderate fundamentalists' to a milder and more liberal posture in the recent period and attempts to assess the consequences of this phenomenon for the future of the democratic order. A major objective is to highlight some of the paradoxical developments encountered in the process, attempting to consolidate democracy in the current international order within the parameters of neo-liberal globalization.     

Institutional constraints on cabinet formation: Veto points and party system dynamics

Research on government formation in parliamentary democracies has presented contradicting evidence on the role of political veto institutions and parliamentary polarization on the formation of cabinet types. Institutional rules may either provide significant leeway for political parties or seriously constrain them when forming sustainable coalitions. In contrast to previous studies we argue that the effect of political institutions is conditional on the degree of polarization in parliament. We test our hypotheses using original data on 842 cabinet formations in 33 advanced democracies between 1945–2018. In line with previous research, we find that the institutional rules have a pronounced effect on the type of cabinet formed, but that institutional rules moderate the effect of party system polarization. Thus, our findings provide important new insights on cabinet formation which are particularly relevant for today's increasingly polarized parliaments.     

Austerity is Strangling Europe

Because they have failed to address the fundamental economic imbalances within Europe obscured by the single currency, each effort by European leaders so far to resolve the euro crisis has only deepened it. Without a decisive move toward fiscal and political union, accompanied by policies that push productivity and competitiveness toward convergence while closing the democratic deficit, the Eurozone will disintegrate. To discuss the way forward, the Nicolas Berggruen Institute's Council on the Future of Europe met in Rome on May 28 with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti. In this section we publish the contributions from that meeting by the former European leaders, scholars and Nobel laureates who are members of the Council.     

Nitrate and Nitrite Determination in Gunshot Residue Samples by Capillary Electrophoresis in Acidic Run Buffer,

Simultaneous determination of nitrate and nitrite in gunshot residue has been conducted by capillary electrophoresis using an acidic run buffer (pH 3.5). In previously developed capillary electrophoretic methods, alkaline pH separation buffers were used where nitrite and nitrate possess similar electrophoretic mobility. In this study, the electroosmotic flow has been reversed by using low pH running buffer without any additives. As a result of reversing the electroosmotic flow, very fast analysis has been actualized, well‐defined and separated ion peaks emerge in less than 4 min. Besides, the limit of detection was improved by employing large volume sample stacking. Limit of detection values were 6.7 and 4.3 μM for nitrate and nitrite, respectively. In traditional procedure, mechanical agitation is employed for extraction, while in this work the extraction efficiency of ultrasound mixing for 30 min was found sufficient. The proposed method was successfully applied to authentic gunshot residue samples.