This study examines how military counter-terrorism (CT) measures affect the quality of democracy ... more This study examines how military counter-terrorism (CT) measures affect the quality of democracy by altering civil-military relations (CMR) and focuses on civil-military relations as the main causal mechanism. We argue that the use of a military approach in counter-terrorism jeopardizes democracy at the societal level by increasing the belief that only the military is equipped to deal with the threat at hand. Therefore, erosions of civil liberties are tolerated in exchange for security. Second, we argue that military CT measures change the balance between the military and executive powers in procedural and liberal democracies. While the military's executive power increases in procedural democracies, the civilian ruler's control of the military power increases in liberal ones. Case studies of the U.S. and Turkey show that a military counter-terrorism approach affects CMR in these countries, which generate a similar tradeoff between security and the quality of democracy, albeit via different causal mechanisms. While that tradeoff is less severe in the U.S., Turkey is more vulnerable to erosion of democracy.
Dempsey's views on civil-military norms for officers in the early twenty-first century origi... more Dempsey's views on civil-military norms for officers in the early twenty-first century originate from somewhere else besides his otherwise fascinating results on political socialization. The suggestions are still broad and reasonable enough not to contradict directly Huntington's ...
This is a forthcoming undergraduate textbook on philosophy of political science and international... more This is a forthcoming undergraduate textbook on philosophy of political science and international relations (with Frederic J. Fleron and Lisa Parshall). The manuscript is contracted by Rowman & Littlefield.
This is a forthcoming book manuscript on philosophy of political science and international relati... more This is a forthcoming book manuscript on philosophy of political science and international relations (with Frederic J. Fleron and Lisa Parshall). The manuscript is contracted by Rowman & Littlefield.
Uluslararası İlişkiler, sadece kuramsal açıdan değil, bilim felsefesi anlayışı konusunda da derin... more Uluslararası İlişkiler, sadece kuramsal açıdan değil, bilim felsefesi anlayışı konusunda da derin fikir ayrılıkları yaşayan bir disiplindir. Öyle ki, epistemoloji, ontoloji ve metodoloji konularında yaşanan anlaşmazlıklar Uluslararası İlişkilerin disiplin olma özelliğini dahi sorgulatmaktadır. Bu makale, Uluslararası İlişkilerde özellikle metodoloji ve yöntem konularında yaşanan tartışmaları özetlemeyi, metodolojiyle ilgili kavramları açıklığa kavuşturmayı ve metot konusuna faydacı bir bakış açısı getirmeyi hede emektedir. Rudra Sil ve Peter Katzenstein, analitik uzlaştırmacılık (analytic eclecticism) yaklaşımları ile farklı bakış açılarının kuram ve epistemoloji gibi konularda anlaşmadan da birbirlerini tamamlayabileceğini, dünya siyasetini anlamlandırabilmek için faydacı bir yaklaşım kullanmanın gerekli olduğunu iddia etmektedirler. Makale, bu uzlaştırmacı yaklaşımın araştırma metotları konusunda da kullanılabileceğini terörizm çalışmalarından örneklerle göstermektedir.
The literature holds that coalition-building parties prefer the policy distance of coalition part... more The literature holds that coalition-building parties prefer the policy distance of coalition partners to be as small as possible. In light of continued importance of religion in electoral politics cross nationally the distance argument is worrisome for minorities seeking political access, because many minorities are of different religion than the majority representatives forming coalitions. We suggest plurality party’s objectives to demonstrate inclusiveness outweigh the concern over policy distance. We test our hypotheses on a sample of all electorally active ethnic minorities in democracies from 1945-2004. We find support for our hypothesis that ethnic parties representing minorities that diverge in religious family from the majority are more likely to be included in governing coalitions than are ethnic minorities at large. Interestingly, however, we also find that minority parties representing ethnic groups that differ in denomination from the majority are less likely to be included in governing coalitions.
When ethnic minority parties are excluded from government coalitions, are group attributes such a... more When ethnic minority parties are excluded from government coalitions, are group attributes such as religion related to the groups’ use of political violence? We argue that extremist factions within minority groups make use of divergence in religion to mobilize support for violent action when the group is excluded from government. Thus we posit that while religion per se is not a source of violence, extremist elements of ethnic minorities whose religion differs from the majority may use religious divergence to mobilize group members to perpetrate terrorism. Specifically we test the hypotheses that extremist factions of an excluded group will be more likely to carry out terrorist attacks when the group’s members belong to a different religion as well as when they belong to a different denomination or sect of a religion than the majority. To test these propositions, we use data on ethnic minority party inclusion in government coalitions, ethnic minority group religion and the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) by matching perpetrators with ethnic groups for all democracies, 1970-2004.
Turkey, with its strong military, the second largest in the NATO alliance after the United States... more Turkey, with its strong military, the second largest in the NATO alliance after the United States, participates in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations all over the world since the end of the Cold War. This chapter examines two major questions: why did Turkish contributions to UN peacekeeping rise in the 2000s and why did its contributions remain limited when put in the context of the potential capacity of the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and the Turkish National Police Force (TNPF). This chapter argues that the rationales behind Turkey’s provision of UN peacekeepers have changed significantly from the 1990s to the 2000s. While its UN peacekeeping contributions could be explained by normative and security-based explanations in the 1990s, Turkey’s more recent rising contributions are mainly a consequence of its political aspirations to become a regional and global player. Significant constraints, on the other hand, include the perception of both politicians and bureaucrats that equate UN-led operations with UN-mandated NATO operations, the disconnect between civilians and the military on security-related issues, the limited reward structures for participating in UN operations, particularly within the military, and the fight against the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) that has engaged Turkish security forces since 1984. The chapter concludes that, despite these constraints, Turkish government is eager to take part in global and regional peacekeeping efforts to attain its political goals.
This article analyzes the Kurdish issue in various aspects before the June 2011 elections. The ma... more This article analyzes the Kurdish issue in various aspects before the June 2011 elections. The main research questions include what constitutes the major grievances of the Kurds; how the ongoing conflict is framed as “Kurdish issue” versus a “terrorism problem” and how major political parties in Turkey approach the issue and its solution in their 2011 election manifestos and rallies. This article contributes the literature on the Kurdish issue in particular and Turkey’s democratic consolidation in general by identifying the problems and political views of all relevant sides. Finally, based on both a historical and empirical analysis, the article reflects on the reasons why the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi and Barıs ̧ ve Demokrasi Partisi have become the major players in addressing the Kurdish issue after the 2011 election. The findings are relevant for Turkish democratic consolidation in particular and the democratization literature in general.
This article seeks to understand the transformation of Turkish civil-military relations in a comp... more This article seeks to understand the transformation of Turkish civil-military relations in a comparative perspective. The analysis is based on two criteria: institutional/legal mechanisms and political oversight of the military's autonomy. Comparison of European and Middle Eastern civil-military relations models to the Turkish paradigm unveils grave differences between Turkish and Middle Eastern civil-military relations. The Turkish model in transformation for at least a decade is closer to the European model in both legal and political aspects. Nevertheless, the article underscores that Turkish civil-military relations are still in transformation and although the EU accession process has gradually democratized the legal system of the country, democratic consolidation requires further advances in the political domain. Consequently, consolidation in Turkey depends not only on retreating of the military from the political realm but also on the proper civilianization of the regime in theory and practice.
Democratization scholars argue that Turkey has successfully transitioned to democracy and is cons... more Democratization scholars argue that Turkey has successfully transitioned to democracy and is consolidating liberal democracy. The political elite and the parties are deemed important factors in crafting democracies. However, the Turkish political leadership has not changed much until recently; therefore, it remains a puzzle why consolidation is taking place. There are two explanations: (1) there is no consolidation of democracy (2) a factor other than the turnover in political elite/change in the political system has led to consolidation. I argue that consolidation is in progress because of the lengthy but persistent transformation of the military in Turkey. I examine previously overlooked changes in Turkish military with respect to its structure and its relations to the society. I find that the change in the military contributes to the consolidation of democracy in Turkey, and other transitional democracies. As with any other institutional change, this process is slow and risky.
Uluslararası İlişkiler disiplininde güvenlik alt dalı son yıllarda diğer alt dallar- da da gerçek... more Uluslararası İlişkiler disiplininde güvenlik alt dalı son yıllarda diğer alt dallar- da da gerçekleşen akımı izleyerek geleneksel kuramsal çerçevelerden inşacı (konstrüktivist) ve eleştirel kuramlara yönelmektedir. Bu noktada Avrupa ve Amerika Birlesik Devletleri (A.B.D.)’nin farklı düzeylerde kuramsal açılımlar ya- şadığı gözlemlenmektedir. Bu makale A.B.D.’de yürütülmekte olan güvenlik çalışmalarını kuramsal açıdan incelemekte ve geleneksel çalışmalar ile inşacı çalışmaların geçmişte ve günümüzde çalıştığı konuları saptamaktadır. Maka- lenin amacı, A.B.D.’deki güvenlik çalışmalarını kuram ve konular açısından inceledikten sonra Türkiye’deki güvenlik çalışmalarını incelemek ve ikisini karşılaştırmaktır. Türk akademisyenlerinin kuramsal çalışmalarının ve çalış- tıkları konuların A.B.D. ile örtüşüp örtüşmediğini anlamak amacıyla geniş bir literatürün analizi yapılmaktadır. Böylece Türkiye’de güvenlik çalışmalarının gelişmesi için yapılabilecekler tartışılabilir.
This study examines how military counter-terrorism (CT) measures affect the quality of democracy ... more This study examines how military counter-terrorism (CT) measures affect the quality of democracy by altering civil-military relations (CMR) and focuses on civil-military relations as the main causal mechanism. We argue that the use of a military approach in counter-terrorism jeopardizes democracy at the societal level by increasing the belief that only the military is equipped to deal with the threat at hand. Therefore, erosions of civil liberties are tolerated in exchange for security. Second, we argue that military CT measures change the balance between the military and executive powers in procedural and liberal democracies. While the military's executive power increases in procedural democracies, the civilian ruler's control of the military power increases in liberal ones. Case studies of the U.S. and Turkey show that a military counter-terrorism approach affects CMR in these countries, which generate a similar tradeoff between security and the quality of democracy, albeit via different causal mechanisms. While that tradeoff is less severe in the U.S., Turkey is more vulnerable to erosion of democracy.
Dempsey's views on civil-military norms for officers in the early twenty-first century origi... more Dempsey's views on civil-military norms for officers in the early twenty-first century originate from somewhere else besides his otherwise fascinating results on political socialization. The suggestions are still broad and reasonable enough not to contradict directly Huntington's ...
This is a forthcoming undergraduate textbook on philosophy of political science and international... more This is a forthcoming undergraduate textbook on philosophy of political science and international relations (with Frederic J. Fleron and Lisa Parshall). The manuscript is contracted by Rowman & Littlefield.
This is a forthcoming book manuscript on philosophy of political science and international relati... more This is a forthcoming book manuscript on philosophy of political science and international relations (with Frederic J. Fleron and Lisa Parshall). The manuscript is contracted by Rowman & Littlefield.
Uluslararası İlişkiler, sadece kuramsal açıdan değil, bilim felsefesi anlayışı konusunda da derin... more Uluslararası İlişkiler, sadece kuramsal açıdan değil, bilim felsefesi anlayışı konusunda da derin fikir ayrılıkları yaşayan bir disiplindir. Öyle ki, epistemoloji, ontoloji ve metodoloji konularında yaşanan anlaşmazlıklar Uluslararası İlişkilerin disiplin olma özelliğini dahi sorgulatmaktadır. Bu makale, Uluslararası İlişkilerde özellikle metodoloji ve yöntem konularında yaşanan tartışmaları özetlemeyi, metodolojiyle ilgili kavramları açıklığa kavuşturmayı ve metot konusuna faydacı bir bakış açısı getirmeyi hede emektedir. Rudra Sil ve Peter Katzenstein, analitik uzlaştırmacılık (analytic eclecticism) yaklaşımları ile farklı bakış açılarının kuram ve epistemoloji gibi konularda anlaşmadan da birbirlerini tamamlayabileceğini, dünya siyasetini anlamlandırabilmek için faydacı bir yaklaşım kullanmanın gerekli olduğunu iddia etmektedirler. Makale, bu uzlaştırmacı yaklaşımın araştırma metotları konusunda da kullanılabileceğini terörizm çalışmalarından örneklerle göstermektedir.
The literature holds that coalition-building parties prefer the policy distance of coalition part... more The literature holds that coalition-building parties prefer the policy distance of coalition partners to be as small as possible. In light of continued importance of religion in electoral politics cross nationally the distance argument is worrisome for minorities seeking political access, because many minorities are of different religion than the majority representatives forming coalitions. We suggest plurality party’s objectives to demonstrate inclusiveness outweigh the concern over policy distance. We test our hypotheses on a sample of all electorally active ethnic minorities in democracies from 1945-2004. We find support for our hypothesis that ethnic parties representing minorities that diverge in religious family from the majority are more likely to be included in governing coalitions than are ethnic minorities at large. Interestingly, however, we also find that minority parties representing ethnic groups that differ in denomination from the majority are less likely to be included in governing coalitions.
When ethnic minority parties are excluded from government coalitions, are group attributes such a... more When ethnic minority parties are excluded from government coalitions, are group attributes such as religion related to the groups’ use of political violence? We argue that extremist factions within minority groups make use of divergence in religion to mobilize support for violent action when the group is excluded from government. Thus we posit that while religion per se is not a source of violence, extremist elements of ethnic minorities whose religion differs from the majority may use religious divergence to mobilize group members to perpetrate terrorism. Specifically we test the hypotheses that extremist factions of an excluded group will be more likely to carry out terrorist attacks when the group’s members belong to a different religion as well as when they belong to a different denomination or sect of a religion than the majority. To test these propositions, we use data on ethnic minority party inclusion in government coalitions, ethnic minority group religion and the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) by matching perpetrators with ethnic groups for all democracies, 1970-2004.
Turkey, with its strong military, the second largest in the NATO alliance after the United States... more Turkey, with its strong military, the second largest in the NATO alliance after the United States, participates in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations all over the world since the end of the Cold War. This chapter examines two major questions: why did Turkish contributions to UN peacekeeping rise in the 2000s and why did its contributions remain limited when put in the context of the potential capacity of the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and the Turkish National Police Force (TNPF). This chapter argues that the rationales behind Turkey’s provision of UN peacekeepers have changed significantly from the 1990s to the 2000s. While its UN peacekeeping contributions could be explained by normative and security-based explanations in the 1990s, Turkey’s more recent rising contributions are mainly a consequence of its political aspirations to become a regional and global player. Significant constraints, on the other hand, include the perception of both politicians and bureaucrats that equate UN-led operations with UN-mandated NATO operations, the disconnect between civilians and the military on security-related issues, the limited reward structures for participating in UN operations, particularly within the military, and the fight against the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) that has engaged Turkish security forces since 1984. The chapter concludes that, despite these constraints, Turkish government is eager to take part in global and regional peacekeeping efforts to attain its political goals.
This article analyzes the Kurdish issue in various aspects before the June 2011 elections. The ma... more This article analyzes the Kurdish issue in various aspects before the June 2011 elections. The main research questions include what constitutes the major grievances of the Kurds; how the ongoing conflict is framed as “Kurdish issue” versus a “terrorism problem” and how major political parties in Turkey approach the issue and its solution in their 2011 election manifestos and rallies. This article contributes the literature on the Kurdish issue in particular and Turkey’s democratic consolidation in general by identifying the problems and political views of all relevant sides. Finally, based on both a historical and empirical analysis, the article reflects on the reasons why the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi and Barıs ̧ ve Demokrasi Partisi have become the major players in addressing the Kurdish issue after the 2011 election. The findings are relevant for Turkish democratic consolidation in particular and the democratization literature in general.
This article seeks to understand the transformation of Turkish civil-military relations in a comp... more This article seeks to understand the transformation of Turkish civil-military relations in a comparative perspective. The analysis is based on two criteria: institutional/legal mechanisms and political oversight of the military's autonomy. Comparison of European and Middle Eastern civil-military relations models to the Turkish paradigm unveils grave differences between Turkish and Middle Eastern civil-military relations. The Turkish model in transformation for at least a decade is closer to the European model in both legal and political aspects. Nevertheless, the article underscores that Turkish civil-military relations are still in transformation and although the EU accession process has gradually democratized the legal system of the country, democratic consolidation requires further advances in the political domain. Consequently, consolidation in Turkey depends not only on retreating of the military from the political realm but also on the proper civilianization of the regime in theory and practice.
Democratization scholars argue that Turkey has successfully transitioned to democracy and is cons... more Democratization scholars argue that Turkey has successfully transitioned to democracy and is consolidating liberal democracy. The political elite and the parties are deemed important factors in crafting democracies. However, the Turkish political leadership has not changed much until recently; therefore, it remains a puzzle why consolidation is taking place. There are two explanations: (1) there is no consolidation of democracy (2) a factor other than the turnover in political elite/change in the political system has led to consolidation. I argue that consolidation is in progress because of the lengthy but persistent transformation of the military in Turkey. I examine previously overlooked changes in Turkish military with respect to its structure and its relations to the society. I find that the change in the military contributes to the consolidation of democracy in Turkey, and other transitional democracies. As with any other institutional change, this process is slow and risky.
Uluslararası İlişkiler disiplininde güvenlik alt dalı son yıllarda diğer alt dallar- da da gerçek... more Uluslararası İlişkiler disiplininde güvenlik alt dalı son yıllarda diğer alt dallar- da da gerçekleşen akımı izleyerek geleneksel kuramsal çerçevelerden inşacı (konstrüktivist) ve eleştirel kuramlara yönelmektedir. Bu noktada Avrupa ve Amerika Birlesik Devletleri (A.B.D.)’nin farklı düzeylerde kuramsal açılımlar ya- şadığı gözlemlenmektedir. Bu makale A.B.D.’de yürütülmekte olan güvenlik çalışmalarını kuramsal açıdan incelemekte ve geleneksel çalışmalar ile inşacı çalışmaların geçmişte ve günümüzde çalıştığı konuları saptamaktadır. Maka- lenin amacı, A.B.D.’deki güvenlik çalışmalarını kuram ve konular açısından inceledikten sonra Türkiye’deki güvenlik çalışmalarını incelemek ve ikisini karşılaştırmaktır. Türk akademisyenlerinin kuramsal çalışmalarının ve çalış- tıkları konuların A.B.D. ile örtüşüp örtüşmediğini anlamak amacıyla geniş bir literatürün analizi yapılmaktadır. Böylece Türkiye’de güvenlik çalışmalarının gelişmesi için yapılabilecekler tartışılabilir.
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