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ALI Çarkoğlu

Koç University, International Relations, Faculty Member

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Ali Çarkoğlu is currently a professor of political science at Koc University-Istanbul. He received his Ph. D. at the State University of New York-Binghamton in 1994. He previously taught at Boğaziçi and Sabancı universities in Istanbul. He was a resident fellow in 2008-2009 at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS). His areas of research interest include voting behavior, elections, public opinion and party politics in Turkey. He is the founding director of the Center for Survey Research (https://csr.ku.edu.tr/home) and the Center for Civil Society and Philanthropy Research (https://kusitham.ku.edu.tr/). He is on the editorial board of Turkish Studies, South European Society and Politics and Insight Turkey.
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Pelin Ayan Musil

Institute of International Relations, Prague

University of South Wales

Hacettepe University

Meral Ugur Cinar

Bilkent University

Antalya Bilim University

Kerem can Yıldırım

University of Graz

Ozyegin University

Princeton University

Sabanci University

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Papers by ALI Çarkoğlu

Southeast EurDifficult choices: choosing the candidate of the nation alliance in the 2023 Turkish presidential electionopean and Black Sea Studies

Difficult choices: choosing the candidate of the nation alliance in the 2023 Turkish presidential election, 2024

The Turkish presidential election in 2023 marked a pivotal moment for the ruling Justice and Deve... more The Turkish presidential election in 2023 marked a pivotal moment for the ruling Justice and Development Party and Erdoğan, grap-pling with criticism over their handling of the economic crisis. Six parties formed the Nation Alliance to challenge the incumbent, but negotiations for the alliance’s presidential candidate collapsed, leading to the breakdown of the alliance. This study analyzes the divided opposition and its difficulty in nominating a likeable candi-date as another reason for the continuation of President Erdoğan’s rule. A Response Surface Analysis (RSA) approach is utilized to describe the potential outcomes of the options that opposition parties considered regarding their presidential candidate. The ana-lysis shows that the leader of the Republican People’s Party, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, was weaker in appealing to the centre-right wing voters of the alliance partner, the Good Party, yet fared better in gathering the support of the Kurdish voter base of the Peoples’ Democratic Party.

Closing the information gap in competitive authoritarian regimes? The effect of voting advice applications

Electoral Studies, 2023

Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) are used in elections across the globe and offer voters nonpart... more Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) are used in elections across the globe and offer voters nonpartisan information about political parties, candidates, and policy issues. Several studies suggest that VAAs affect vote choice as well as political knowledge. However, despite the vast literature on VAAs, online voting advice technology's impact on authoritarian regimes, where the cost of accessing expert advice is much higher than in democracies, remains unknown. In this study, we present results from a randomized experiment that evaluates the effects of a VAA intervention on voter attitudes and choices in Turkey-a typical competitive authoritarian regime where elections take place, but the rules are skewed in favor of the regime. We embedded a VAA intervention in a faceto-face panel survey conducted before and after the 2019 local elections in Istanbul, Turkey. Using a representative sample of Turkish adults in Istanbul, we randomly assigned half of the participants to our VAA intervention consisting of exposure to their political standing on a two-dimensional map of political candidates. Our analysis demonstrates that the VAA intervention influences candidate choice, mainly among centrist voters. However, these effects are short-term and dissipate within two months.

Populist attitudes and challenges towards liberal democracy: An empirical assessment of the Turkish case

by ALI Çarkoğlu and Ezgi Elci

IPSR

The rise of populism presents a challenge to liberal democracy in various countries. This article... more The rise of populism presents a challenge to liberal democracy in various countries. This article questions how populist attitudes affect the democratic preferences of the electorate. Using representative survey data fielded from Turkey in 2019, we first tested the effect of populist attitudes on illiberal democratic attitudes. The results show the negative impact of populism on support for illiberal democratic attitudes. Next, we analyzed which dimension of populism correlates with illiberal democratic preferences. Our results pointed to the negative influence of the Manichean outlook on preferences concerning democracy. Contrary to expectations, as anti-elitist and people-centric attitudes increase, support for illiberal democracy decreases. Hence, the relative emphasis on different dimensions of populism is likely to shape the net balance of its influence on democracy. Electoral alliance preferences also shape democracy preferences. The ruling People's Alliance voters are more supportive of illiberal democracy than the opposition blocs and parties.

Popülizm Teorileri Işığında Türkiye'de Popülizmin Tarihsel Gelişimi: Siyasi Partiler Üzerine Bir İnceleme 1 2

by ALI Çarkoğlu and Ezgi Elci

AÜSBD, 2022

Bu çalışma, popülist eğilimlerin Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun son döneminden günümüz Türkiye siyaset... more Bu çalışma, popülist eğilimlerin Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun son döneminden günümüz Türkiye siyasetine kadar hangi liderler ve partiler tarafından ne şekilde benimsendiğini araştırmaktadır. Bu amaçla çalışmamızın kurgusu popülizmi zayıf-merkezli bir ideoloji olarak kabul etmektedir. Görgül zenginliğe olanak sağlayan bu tanımlamanın ışığında Türkiye'deki popülizmin tarihi millet (halk), elitler ve milli irade kavramları çerçevesinde irdelenmiştir. İncelememiz Türkiye'deki popülizmde üç ayrı "halk" kavramını gözlemlemektedir. Bunlar, solda 1970'ler Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi'nin benimsediği "sıradan insanlar;" merkez sağ partilerin 1950'lerden itibaren takip ettiği "milli irade" ile "halkın aklıselimi" ve sağda 1969 itibariyle Milli Görüş ideolojisinin benimsediği "İslam milleti" tanımlamalarıdır. Türkiye'deki popülizm, milletin (halkın) karşısına yerleştirilen elitlerin tanımına siyasal partilerin muhalefette-iktidarda olup olmamalarına ve ideolojik sağ-sol yönelimlerine göre farklılık göstermektedir. Yakın dönemde ise Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, Demokrat Parti ve Adalet Partisi çizgisini ve Milli Görüş'ün yaklaşımını harmanlayarak Türkiye popülizmine yeni bir kimlik kazandırmıştır. Bu bağlamda, milletin (halkın) karşısındaki elit tanımı iç siyasetteki dışlayıcı-otoriter yöneticilerden uluslararası siyasetteki dış düşmanlara ve onların iç siyasetteki işbirlikçilerine endekslenmiştir. Sonuçta, incelememiz Türkiye'deki popülist eğilimlerin siyasette sadece belli bir parti ve ideolojiye ait olmadığını tarihsel bir bütünlük içerisinde sunmaktadır. Bu teorik temelli tarihsel bütünlük aynı zamanda diğer nicel ve nitel vaka analizlerine de önemli bir kaynak sağlayacaktır. Millet (halk), elitler ve milli irade kavramlarının tarih içerisinde ve siyasal sağ-sol ideoloji yelpazesinin neredeyse her yerinde geçirmiş olduğu gelişimi ortaya koymanın diğer karşılaştırmalı çalışmalara da hem kuramsal hem de görgül katkılarda bulunacağını düşünmekteyiz.

Individual Giving and Philanthropy in Turkey 2021

Individual Giving and Philanthropy in Turkey 2021, 2022

Individual Giving and Philanthropy in Turkey 2021 Report, which presents comprehensive and up-to-... more Individual Giving and Philanthropy in Turkey 2021 Report, which presents comprehensive and up-to-date data on individual giving and philanthropy. Co-authored by Prof. Dr. Ali Çarkoğlu and Assoc. Professor Selim Erdem Aytaç from Koç University Center for Civil Society and Philanthropy Research, the report presents data under sections Perceptions of Civil Society, Individual Giving and Giving Motivations in Turkey. Referencing the earlier research conducted by TÜSEV, the report also provides a comparative analysis of the change that took place in the field of individual giving in Turkey over a 15-year period. We hope that the report we published will contribute to the field of individual giving in Turkey.

Individual Giving and Phlianthropy in Turkey 2019

INDIVIDUAL GIVING AND PHILANTHROPY IN TURKEY 2019, 2020

Cognitive political networks: A structural approach to measure political polarization in multiparty systems

Social Networks, 2022

While there is a well-established literature on measuring political polarization in two-party sys... more While there is a well-established literature on measuring political polarization in two-party systems, relational approaches to polarization in multiparty systems are still very limited. In this paper we develop a network-based approach for measuring perceived party polarization in survey studies that is suitable for multiparty systems. Our approach is based on cognitive social structures design. We generate a cognitive political network for each respondent in a nationally representative survey in Turkey by asking respondents their perceived ties among all possible dyadic relations among major political parties. From these networks we calculate multiple whole network measures that may be reasonable proxies for perceived party polarization. We compare our approach with the Left-Right political ideology distance scale commonly used in survey studies. Our analyses show that the association between our measure and the Left-Right ideological distance is limited. The cognitive political network approach may be a flexible and a direct alternative for measuring political phenomena in survey studies such as perceived party polarization in multiparty contexts.

Coreligionist Populist Attitudes towards Syrian Refugees in Turkey

by Ezgi Elci and ALI Çarkoğlu

National Identity and Social Cohesion, 2021

Partisanship, elite messages, and support for populism in power

by ALI Çarkoğlu and Ezgi Elci

European Political Science Review, 2020

Discontent is seen as a critical driver for the appeal of populism, yet studies have typically fo... more Discontent is seen as a critical driver for the appeal of populism, yet studies have typically focused on cases of populism in opposition. We argue that scholars' emphasis on populism in opposition led them to overlook the roles of elite messages and partisanship in the adoption of populist attitudes. Drawing on theories of elite-driven public opinion, we contend that populist attitudes do not need to be rooted in discontent. In cases of populism in power, those who are more satisfied politically and economically, and partisans of the ruling party should display higher levels of populist attitudes. We provide observational and experimental survey evidence in this direction from Turkey, where a populist party has long been in power. We also find that the dominant characteristic of support for populism in power is an emphasis on popular sovereignty at the expense of institutions of horizontal accountability.

Support for Censorship of Online and Offline Media: The Partisan Divide in Turkey

The International Journal of Press/Politics , 2020

The increasing popularity of online news and social media sites has made it more difficult than e... more The increasing popularity of online news and social media sites has made it more difficult than ever to control the flow of information. However, governments across the world are successfully continuing to restrict access to content that adversely affects their interests. This study examines the determinants of public support for censorship, as public support is likely to influence governments' ability to regulate information. Using the Balance Theory and nationally representative survey data from Turkey, we analyze the support for censorship of both online and offline media. Our results suggest that pro-censorship attitudes are positively associated with peoples' sympathy for the censor.

Dynamics of Campaign Reporting and Press-Party Parallelism: Rise of Competitive Authoritarianism and the Media System in Turkey

by ALI Çarkoğlu and Kerem Yildirim

Political Communication, 2020

How do press-party parallelism dynamics unfold in media systems that experience competitive autho... more How do press-party parallelism dynamics unfold in media systems that experience competitive authoritarianism? We analyze the content of news coverage of political parties across four consecutive national election campaigns in Turkey (2002, 2007, 2011, and 2015) to track changes in press-party parallelism. We explore three dimensions of press-party parallelism in order to study its dynamics: visibility of political parties, the effective number of parties represented in newspapers, and lastly, favorability toward political parties. First, within each campaign cycle, as election day approaches, visibility of the incumbent party increases while the visibility of other parties tends to decline. Likewise, the incumbent party's visibility increases across the four elections we study. Second, for all newspaper groups, the number of parties that receive favorable or unfavorable coverage declines over consecutive election terms. Third, the incumbent party is the only that gains in terms of positive coverage within and across each election campaign period. Taken together, we show evidence for press-party parallelism dynamics in a competitive authoritarian country.

Election manifestos and policy-oriented economic voting A pooled cross-national analysis

European Journal of Political Research , 1995

Many previous analyses of aggregate-level policy-oriented economic voting hypotheses have been ba... more Many previous analyses of aggregate-level policy-oriented economic voting hypotheses have been based on expert judgements of incumbents' ideology. These judgements first of all concentrate on long term characteristics of ideological stands and, more importantly, do not reflect parties' positions on economic issues per se. Using parties' arguments on economic issues in their election manifestoes, this article develops a left-right ideology dimension that reflects parties' relative positions on economic issues for 163 elections in 16 countries in the post-World War I1 period. The analysis suggests that over time there are very stable differences in parties' ideological positions on economic issues. Despite increasing clarity of ideological cleavages on economic issues, and persistent evidence of diverging economic policy outcomes in the literature, no distinct reward and punishment by the electorate is observed, associated with the ideological stands of the incumbents. Accordingly, the policy-oriented economic voting hypothesis is rejected and possible reasons for this phenomenon is discussed.

Ethics and Corruption: Contrasting Perspectives of the General Public and Business Community in Turkey

Business Ethics and Institutions, 2020

Presidents Shaping Public Opinion in Parliamentary Democracies: A Survey Experiment in Turkey

by ALI Çarkoğlu and S. Erdem Aytaç

Political Behavior, 2018

Many parliamentary democracies feature a president alongside a prime minister. While these presid... more Many parliamentary democracies feature a president alongside a prime minister. While these presidents have a nonpartisan status as head of state, they often have had long political careers with partisan affiliations before assuming office. How do voters react when such actors make issue statements to shape public opinion? Are such statements filtered through voters' partisan lenses, provoked by the partisan background of these actors? Or perhaps partisan reactions are not invoked, owing to the nonpartisan status of the office? We argue that voters' reactions depend on the issue domain. Partisan reactions will be invoked only when the statements are about issues outside the president's prerogatives. We provide evidence for our argument from a population-based survey experiment in Turkey.

Partisan and apportionment bias in creating a predominant party system

Political Geography, 2019

Moving beyond the analytical characteristics of apportionment methods or election systems, this a... more Moving beyond the analytical characteristics of apportionment methods or election systems, this article focuses on their outcomes in practice. We illustrate how apportionment and partisan biases working with a high threshold created an electoral environment conducive to the establishment of a predominant party system. We use the historical example of the Turkish experience. We trace the historical development of disproportionality for the entire multi-party elections for the 1950-2015 period. Focusing on the five most recent elections of this period since 2002, we demonstrate how the biases introduced by the apportionment method in use and the 10% threshold have advantaged the leading Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP). Our study suggests that a partisan bias favoring AKP still continues to exist at a lower level even after correcting the apportionment and the threshold biases. We underline how these biases form the foundation for a conservative over-representation and emphasize the path-dependent dynamics that keep challengers to the AKP away from the electoral scene, effectively helping to continue its hegemonic position in the system.

Informal Giving in Turkey

Voluntas, 2019

Scholarly research about philanthropy has de-emphasized informal giving to friends, neighbors and... more Scholarly research about philanthropy has de-emphasized informal giving to friends, neighbors and others in need. Yet, informal giving is a critical element of philanthropy, particularly in settings with less well-developed civil society institutions. This paper examines informal giving in Turkey, based on two surveys of Turkish citizens conducted in 2004 and 2015. The surveys find much higher levels of informal giving than formal giving, though the level of informal giving decreased between 2004 and 2015. Donors directed their giving more to family member and others in need than to neighbors. In contrast to studies from most other countries, Turks overwhelmingly prefer giving to individuals rather than institutions. Determinants of informal giving, however, are largely consistent with other research on the motivations for giving.

Terror attacks, issue salience, and party competence: Diagnosing shifting vote preferences in a panel study

by ALI Çarkoğlu and S. Erdem Aytaç

Party Politics, 2019

How does a dramatic shift in political context that renders security concerns the most salient el... more How does a dramatic shift in political context that renders security concerns the most salient electoral issue influences voting? To address this question, we take advantage of the peculiar timing of elections and heightened terror attacks in Turkey with the use of original panel data. The June 2015 Turkish general election resulted in a hung parliament, and a snap election was held in November. While the period before June was relatively calm, the inter-election period witnessed an upsurge of terror attacks and casualties. A three-wave panel enables us to track how voters' electoral preferences changed over this period. Our analyses suggest that the terror attacks led voters to prioritize parties' perceived competence in addressing security concerns at the ballot box. The abrupt change in issue salience has bolstered support for the incumbent Justice and Development Party which was evaluated by voters as more competent than other parties.

Learning from name generator/interpreters in mass surveys: Findings from Turkey

by Işıl Cerem Cenker Özek and ALI Çarkoğlu

Learning from name generator/interpreters in mass surveys: Findings from Turkey, 2011

Using three surveys from Turkey conducted in 2008 and 2009, two important methodological question... more Using three surveys from Turkey conducted in 2008 and 2009, two important methodological questions are raised concerning the application of Name Generator/Interpreter items in mass surveys. The first of these questions concerns whether different data collection methods (face-to-face as opposed to telephone interviews) make a difference to the network size variable, from which a host of other network variables are also generated. The second is about those respondents who do not name any discussants in their networks. Determinants of reported network size and non-discussant reports show a clear gender difference as well as patterns suggestive of the relevance of data collection techniques as a possible source for observed variations in basic network information. It is likely that the important matters name generator question does not adequately account for the respondents with no discussants; hence, follow-up questions are useful to both designate and further inquire the properties of this group. We link the gender differences observed to possible fieldwork difficulties in a conservative society like Turkey.

Internet and Social Media Use and Political Knowledge: Evidence from Turkey

by S. Erdem Aytaç and ALI Çarkoğlu

Mediterranean Politics, 2019

What are the implications of citizens turning to online sources for news and information about po... more What are the implications of citizens turning to online sources for news and information about politics? As the Internet and social media have become popular sources of news and information about politics, there has been a growing interest in understanding how this trend affects political knowledge. In this article, we analyze the effects of the Internet and social media use on the Turkish electorate's political knowledge drawing on an original, nationally representative survey fielded in 2015. We find that Internet use is positively associated with higher levels of political knowledge among the Turkish electorate, even after controlling for several relevant factors. At the same time, however, social media users are more likely to be misinformed and more likely to be opinionated about politics than non-users. Overall, the effects of the Internet on political knowledge seem to be multi-faceted and depend on which platforms people resort to getting their news.

Change and Continuity in Turkey’s June 2018 Elections

by ALI Çarkoğlu and Kerem Yildirim

Insight Turkey, 2018

In this paper, we first present a background to the watershed elections of 2018, describing the c... more In this paper, we first present a background to the watershed elections of 2018, describing the context preceding the elections. In order to explain the changes and continuities in the geographic patterns of the 2018 elections, we present ballot-box and district level data from 2018 and previous elections. We refer to long-term ideological/cultural differences as well as short-term evaluations about security and the economy in shaping the 2018 election results. Even in the face of various important developments, radical changes in the geographic voting patterns do not appear to have taken place. The incumbent AK Party and its leader, President Erdoğan, continued to have an electoral edge over competitors in regions that mostly overlap with those observed in earlier elections.

Southeast EurDifficult choices: choosing the candidate of the nation alliance in the 2023 Turkish presidential electionopean and Black Sea Studies

Difficult choices: choosing the candidate of the nation alliance in the 2023 Turkish presidential election, 2024

The Turkish presidential election in 2023 marked a pivotal moment for the ruling Justice and Deve... more The Turkish presidential election in 2023 marked a pivotal moment for the ruling Justice and Development Party and Erdoğan, grap-pling with criticism over their handling of the economic crisis. Six parties formed the Nation Alliance to challenge the incumbent, but negotiations for the alliance’s presidential candidate collapsed, leading to the breakdown of the alliance. This study analyzes the divided opposition and its difficulty in nominating a likeable candi-date as another reason for the continuation of President Erdoğan’s rule. A Response Surface Analysis (RSA) approach is utilized to describe the potential outcomes of the options that opposition parties considered regarding their presidential candidate. The ana-lysis shows that the leader of the Republican People’s Party, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, was weaker in appealing to the centre-right wing voters of the alliance partner, the Good Party, yet fared better in gathering the support of the Kurdish voter base of the Peoples’ Democratic Party.

Closing the information gap in competitive authoritarian regimes? The effect of voting advice applications

Electoral Studies, 2023

Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) are used in elections across the globe and offer voters nonpart... more Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) are used in elections across the globe and offer voters nonpartisan information about political parties, candidates, and policy issues. Several studies suggest that VAAs affect vote choice as well as political knowledge. However, despite the vast literature on VAAs, online voting advice technology's impact on authoritarian regimes, where the cost of accessing expert advice is much higher than in democracies, remains unknown. In this study, we present results from a randomized experiment that evaluates the effects of a VAA intervention on voter attitudes and choices in Turkey-a typical competitive authoritarian regime where elections take place, but the rules are skewed in favor of the regime. We embedded a VAA intervention in a faceto-face panel survey conducted before and after the 2019 local elections in Istanbul, Turkey. Using a representative sample of Turkish adults in Istanbul, we randomly assigned half of the participants to our VAA intervention consisting of exposure to their political standing on a two-dimensional map of political candidates. Our analysis demonstrates that the VAA intervention influences candidate choice, mainly among centrist voters. However, these effects are short-term and dissipate within two months.

Populist attitudes and challenges towards liberal democracy: An empirical assessment of the Turkish case

by ALI Çarkoğlu and Ezgi Elci

IPSR

The rise of populism presents a challenge to liberal democracy in various countries. This article... more The rise of populism presents a challenge to liberal democracy in various countries. This article questions how populist attitudes affect the democratic preferences of the electorate. Using representative survey data fielded from Turkey in 2019, we first tested the effect of populist attitudes on illiberal democratic attitudes. The results show the negative impact of populism on support for illiberal democratic attitudes. Next, we analyzed which dimension of populism correlates with illiberal democratic preferences. Our results pointed to the negative influence of the Manichean outlook on preferences concerning democracy. Contrary to expectations, as anti-elitist and people-centric attitudes increase, support for illiberal democracy decreases. Hence, the relative emphasis on different dimensions of populism is likely to shape the net balance of its influence on democracy. Electoral alliance preferences also shape democracy preferences. The ruling People's Alliance voters are more supportive of illiberal democracy than the opposition blocs and parties.

Popülizm Teorileri Işığında Türkiye'de Popülizmin Tarihsel Gelişimi: Siyasi Partiler Üzerine Bir İnceleme 1 2

by ALI Çarkoğlu and Ezgi Elci

AÜSBD, 2022

Bu çalışma, popülist eğilimlerin Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun son döneminden günümüz Türkiye siyaset... more Bu çalışma, popülist eğilimlerin Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun son döneminden günümüz Türkiye siyasetine kadar hangi liderler ve partiler tarafından ne şekilde benimsendiğini araştırmaktadır. Bu amaçla çalışmamızın kurgusu popülizmi zayıf-merkezli bir ideoloji olarak kabul etmektedir. Görgül zenginliğe olanak sağlayan bu tanımlamanın ışığında Türkiye'deki popülizmin tarihi millet (halk), elitler ve milli irade kavramları çerçevesinde irdelenmiştir. İncelememiz Türkiye'deki popülizmde üç ayrı "halk" kavramını gözlemlemektedir. Bunlar, solda 1970'ler Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi'nin benimsediği "sıradan insanlar;" merkez sağ partilerin 1950'lerden itibaren takip ettiği "milli irade" ile "halkın aklıselimi" ve sağda 1969 itibariyle Milli Görüş ideolojisinin benimsediği "İslam milleti" tanımlamalarıdır. Türkiye'deki popülizm, milletin (halkın) karşısına yerleştirilen elitlerin tanımına siyasal partilerin muhalefette-iktidarda olup olmamalarına ve ideolojik sağ-sol yönelimlerine göre farklılık göstermektedir. Yakın dönemde ise Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, Demokrat Parti ve Adalet Partisi çizgisini ve Milli Görüş'ün yaklaşımını harmanlayarak Türkiye popülizmine yeni bir kimlik kazandırmıştır. Bu bağlamda, milletin (halkın) karşısındaki elit tanımı iç siyasetteki dışlayıcı-otoriter yöneticilerden uluslararası siyasetteki dış düşmanlara ve onların iç siyasetteki işbirlikçilerine endekslenmiştir. Sonuçta, incelememiz Türkiye'deki popülist eğilimlerin siyasette sadece belli bir parti ve ideolojiye ait olmadığını tarihsel bir bütünlük içerisinde sunmaktadır. Bu teorik temelli tarihsel bütünlük aynı zamanda diğer nicel ve nitel vaka analizlerine de önemli bir kaynak sağlayacaktır. Millet (halk), elitler ve milli irade kavramlarının tarih içerisinde ve siyasal sağ-sol ideoloji yelpazesinin neredeyse her yerinde geçirmiş olduğu gelişimi ortaya koymanın diğer karşılaştırmalı çalışmalara da hem kuramsal hem de görgül katkılarda bulunacağını düşünmekteyiz.

Individual Giving and Philanthropy in Turkey 2021

Individual Giving and Philanthropy in Turkey 2021, 2022

Individual Giving and Philanthropy in Turkey 2021 Report, which presents comprehensive and up-to-... more Individual Giving and Philanthropy in Turkey 2021 Report, which presents comprehensive and up-to-date data on individual giving and philanthropy. Co-authored by Prof. Dr. Ali Çarkoğlu and Assoc. Professor Selim Erdem Aytaç from Koç University Center for Civil Society and Philanthropy Research, the report presents data under sections Perceptions of Civil Society, Individual Giving and Giving Motivations in Turkey. Referencing the earlier research conducted by TÜSEV, the report also provides a comparative analysis of the change that took place in the field of individual giving in Turkey over a 15-year period. We hope that the report we published will contribute to the field of individual giving in Turkey.

Individual Giving and Phlianthropy in Turkey 2019

INDIVIDUAL GIVING AND PHILANTHROPY IN TURKEY 2019, 2020

Cognitive political networks: A structural approach to measure political polarization in multiparty systems

Social Networks, 2022

While there is a well-established literature on measuring political polarization in two-party sys... more While there is a well-established literature on measuring political polarization in two-party systems, relational approaches to polarization in multiparty systems are still very limited. In this paper we develop a network-based approach for measuring perceived party polarization in survey studies that is suitable for multiparty systems. Our approach is based on cognitive social structures design. We generate a cognitive political network for each respondent in a nationally representative survey in Turkey by asking respondents their perceived ties among all possible dyadic relations among major political parties. From these networks we calculate multiple whole network measures that may be reasonable proxies for perceived party polarization. We compare our approach with the Left-Right political ideology distance scale commonly used in survey studies. Our analyses show that the association between our measure and the Left-Right ideological distance is limited. The cognitive political network approach may be a flexible and a direct alternative for measuring political phenomena in survey studies such as perceived party polarization in multiparty contexts.

Coreligionist Populist Attitudes towards Syrian Refugees in Turkey

by Ezgi Elci and ALI Çarkoğlu

National Identity and Social Cohesion, 2021

Partisanship, elite messages, and support for populism in power

by ALI Çarkoğlu and Ezgi Elci

European Political Science Review, 2020

Discontent is seen as a critical driver for the appeal of populism, yet studies have typically fo... more Discontent is seen as a critical driver for the appeal of populism, yet studies have typically focused on cases of populism in opposition. We argue that scholars' emphasis on populism in opposition led them to overlook the roles of elite messages and partisanship in the adoption of populist attitudes. Drawing on theories of elite-driven public opinion, we contend that populist attitudes do not need to be rooted in discontent. In cases of populism in power, those who are more satisfied politically and economically, and partisans of the ruling party should display higher levels of populist attitudes. We provide observational and experimental survey evidence in this direction from Turkey, where a populist party has long been in power. We also find that the dominant characteristic of support for populism in power is an emphasis on popular sovereignty at the expense of institutions of horizontal accountability.

Support for Censorship of Online and Offline Media: The Partisan Divide in Turkey

The International Journal of Press/Politics , 2020

The increasing popularity of online news and social media sites has made it more difficult than e... more The increasing popularity of online news and social media sites has made it more difficult than ever to control the flow of information. However, governments across the world are successfully continuing to restrict access to content that adversely affects their interests. This study examines the determinants of public support for censorship, as public support is likely to influence governments' ability to regulate information. Using the Balance Theory and nationally representative survey data from Turkey, we analyze the support for censorship of both online and offline media. Our results suggest that pro-censorship attitudes are positively associated with peoples' sympathy for the censor.

Dynamics of Campaign Reporting and Press-Party Parallelism: Rise of Competitive Authoritarianism and the Media System in Turkey

by ALI Çarkoğlu and Kerem Yildirim

Political Communication, 2020

How do press-party parallelism dynamics unfold in media systems that experience competitive autho... more How do press-party parallelism dynamics unfold in media systems that experience competitive authoritarianism? We analyze the content of news coverage of political parties across four consecutive national election campaigns in Turkey (2002, 2007, 2011, and 2015) to track changes in press-party parallelism. We explore three dimensions of press-party parallelism in order to study its dynamics: visibility of political parties, the effective number of parties represented in newspapers, and lastly, favorability toward political parties. First, within each campaign cycle, as election day approaches, visibility of the incumbent party increases while the visibility of other parties tends to decline. Likewise, the incumbent party's visibility increases across the four elections we study. Second, for all newspaper groups, the number of parties that receive favorable or unfavorable coverage declines over consecutive election terms. Third, the incumbent party is the only that gains in terms of positive coverage within and across each election campaign period. Taken together, we show evidence for press-party parallelism dynamics in a competitive authoritarian country.

Election manifestos and policy-oriented economic voting A pooled cross-national analysis

European Journal of Political Research , 1995

Many previous analyses of aggregate-level policy-oriented economic voting hypotheses have been ba... more Many previous analyses of aggregate-level policy-oriented economic voting hypotheses have been based on expert judgements of incumbents' ideology. These judgements first of all concentrate on long term characteristics of ideological stands and, more importantly, do not reflect parties' positions on economic issues per se. Using parties' arguments on economic issues in their election manifestoes, this article develops a left-right ideology dimension that reflects parties' relative positions on economic issues for 163 elections in 16 countries in the post-World War I1 period. The analysis suggests that over time there are very stable differences in parties' ideological positions on economic issues. Despite increasing clarity of ideological cleavages on economic issues, and persistent evidence of diverging economic policy outcomes in the literature, no distinct reward and punishment by the electorate is observed, associated with the ideological stands of the incumbents. Accordingly, the policy-oriented economic voting hypothesis is rejected and possible reasons for this phenomenon is discussed.

Ethics and Corruption: Contrasting Perspectives of the General Public and Business Community in Turkey

Business Ethics and Institutions, 2020

Presidents Shaping Public Opinion in Parliamentary Democracies: A Survey Experiment in Turkey

by ALI Çarkoğlu and S. Erdem Aytaç

Political Behavior, 2018

Many parliamentary democracies feature a president alongside a prime minister. While these presid... more Many parliamentary democracies feature a president alongside a prime minister. While these presidents have a nonpartisan status as head of state, they often have had long political careers with partisan affiliations before assuming office. How do voters react when such actors make issue statements to shape public opinion? Are such statements filtered through voters' partisan lenses, provoked by the partisan background of these actors? Or perhaps partisan reactions are not invoked, owing to the nonpartisan status of the office? We argue that voters' reactions depend on the issue domain. Partisan reactions will be invoked only when the statements are about issues outside the president's prerogatives. We provide evidence for our argument from a population-based survey experiment in Turkey.

Partisan and apportionment bias in creating a predominant party system

Political Geography, 2019

Moving beyond the analytical characteristics of apportionment methods or election systems, this a... more Moving beyond the analytical characteristics of apportionment methods or election systems, this article focuses on their outcomes in practice. We illustrate how apportionment and partisan biases working with a high threshold created an electoral environment conducive to the establishment of a predominant party system. We use the historical example of the Turkish experience. We trace the historical development of disproportionality for the entire multi-party elections for the 1950-2015 period. Focusing on the five most recent elections of this period since 2002, we demonstrate how the biases introduced by the apportionment method in use and the 10% threshold have advantaged the leading Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP). Our study suggests that a partisan bias favoring AKP still continues to exist at a lower level even after correcting the apportionment and the threshold biases. We underline how these biases form the foundation for a conservative over-representation and emphasize the path-dependent dynamics that keep challengers to the AKP away from the electoral scene, effectively helping to continue its hegemonic position in the system.

Informal Giving in Turkey

Voluntas, 2019

Scholarly research about philanthropy has de-emphasized informal giving to friends, neighbors and... more Scholarly research about philanthropy has de-emphasized informal giving to friends, neighbors and others in need. Yet, informal giving is a critical element of philanthropy, particularly in settings with less well-developed civil society institutions. This paper examines informal giving in Turkey, based on two surveys of Turkish citizens conducted in 2004 and 2015. The surveys find much higher levels of informal giving than formal giving, though the level of informal giving decreased between 2004 and 2015. Donors directed their giving more to family member and others in need than to neighbors. In contrast to studies from most other countries, Turks overwhelmingly prefer giving to individuals rather than institutions. Determinants of informal giving, however, are largely consistent with other research on the motivations for giving.

Terror attacks, issue salience, and party competence: Diagnosing shifting vote preferences in a panel study

by ALI Çarkoğlu and S. Erdem Aytaç

Party Politics, 2019

How does a dramatic shift in political context that renders security concerns the most salient el... more How does a dramatic shift in political context that renders security concerns the most salient electoral issue influences voting? To address this question, we take advantage of the peculiar timing of elections and heightened terror attacks in Turkey with the use of original panel data. The June 2015 Turkish general election resulted in a hung parliament, and a snap election was held in November. While the period before June was relatively calm, the inter-election period witnessed an upsurge of terror attacks and casualties. A three-wave panel enables us to track how voters' electoral preferences changed over this period. Our analyses suggest that the terror attacks led voters to prioritize parties' perceived competence in addressing security concerns at the ballot box. The abrupt change in issue salience has bolstered support for the incumbent Justice and Development Party which was evaluated by voters as more competent than other parties.

Learning from name generator/interpreters in mass surveys: Findings from Turkey

by Işıl Cerem Cenker Özek and ALI Çarkoğlu

Learning from name generator/interpreters in mass surveys: Findings from Turkey, 2011

Using three surveys from Turkey conducted in 2008 and 2009, two important methodological question... more Using three surveys from Turkey conducted in 2008 and 2009, two important methodological questions are raised concerning the application of Name Generator/Interpreter items in mass surveys. The first of these questions concerns whether different data collection methods (face-to-face as opposed to telephone interviews) make a difference to the network size variable, from which a host of other network variables are also generated. The second is about those respondents who do not name any discussants in their networks. Determinants of reported network size and non-discussant reports show a clear gender difference as well as patterns suggestive of the relevance of data collection techniques as a possible source for observed variations in basic network information. It is likely that the important matters name generator question does not adequately account for the respondents with no discussants; hence, follow-up questions are useful to both designate and further inquire the properties of this group. We link the gender differences observed to possible fieldwork difficulties in a conservative society like Turkey.

Internet and Social Media Use and Political Knowledge: Evidence from Turkey

by S. Erdem Aytaç and ALI Çarkoğlu

Mediterranean Politics, 2019

What are the implications of citizens turning to online sources for news and information about po... more What are the implications of citizens turning to online sources for news and information about politics? As the Internet and social media have become popular sources of news and information about politics, there has been a growing interest in understanding how this trend affects political knowledge. In this article, we analyze the effects of the Internet and social media use on the Turkish electorate's political knowledge drawing on an original, nationally representative survey fielded in 2015. We find that Internet use is positively associated with higher levels of political knowledge among the Turkish electorate, even after controlling for several relevant factors. At the same time, however, social media users are more likely to be misinformed and more likely to be opinionated about politics than non-users. Overall, the effects of the Internet on political knowledge seem to be multi-faceted and depend on which platforms people resort to getting their news.

Change and Continuity in Turkey’s June 2018 Elections

by ALI Çarkoğlu and Kerem Yildirim

Insight Turkey, 2018

In this paper, we first present a background to the watershed elections of 2018, describing the c... more In this paper, we first present a background to the watershed elections of 2018, describing the context preceding the elections. In order to explain the changes and continuities in the geographic patterns of the 2018 elections, we present ballot-box and district level data from 2018 and previous elections. We refer to long-term ideological/cultural differences as well as short-term evaluations about security and the economy in shaping the 2018 election results. Even in the face of various important developments, radical changes in the geographic voting patterns do not appear to have taken place. The incumbent AK Party and its leader, President Erdoğan, continued to have an electoral edge over competitors in regions that mostly overlap with those observed in earlier elections.

INDIVIDUAL GIVING AND PHILANTHROPY IN TURKEY INDIVIDUAL GIVING AND PHILANTHROPY IN TURKEY

Toplumsal Kaynaklar ve Toplumsal Ağlar: Karşılaştırmalı Türkiye Örneği

by ALI Çarkoğlu and Ersin Kalaycioglu

PERCEPTIONS OF THE CENTRAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS’ ENGAGEMENT IN CORRUPTIVE ACTIVITIES: THE CASE OF TURKEY

by ALI Çarkoğlu and Fikret Adaman

In this paper we aim at providing a general assessment of public administrative systems in Turkey... more In this paper we aim at providing a general assessment of public administrative systems in Turkey both at local and central governments. Our work is based on a survey conducted in urban settlements. Our findings indicate that local governments services are perceived to be relatively more satisfying compared to those of central
government. We also diagnose a certain degree of corrupt deals at both levels of government and attribute this to a serious degree of internalization of such activities by the citizens. In conclusion we offer some policies that can deal with these issues.

İşe Yönelimde Türkiye'ye Karşılaştırmalı Bir Bakış

by ALI Çarkoğlu and Ersin Kalaycioglu

1 2 * Bu raporun yazılmasında kullanılan verilerin toplanması için Sabancı Üniversitesi I.A.CG-17... more

CitizenStateInterfaceReport_Carkoglu_Kalaycioglu.pdf

Istanbul Policy Center / Istanbul Politikalar Merkezi Publications

by Ersin Kalaycioglu and ALI Çarkoğlu

Reports composed from two nationally representative surveys of attitudes, beliefs, expectations a... more