CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2019
| Author | Yavuz, Mehmet |
|---|---|
| Title | Western Linkage vs. Illiberalism: De-democratization in Hungary and Turkey |
| Summary | Regime change literature assumes that western linkage; the density of ties to the West in a certain country has been one of the main driving forces behind the third wave of democratization (Levitsky and Way 2010). However, many countries with diverse ties to the west de-democratized in the last decade. Focusing on Hungary and Turkey between 2010-2018, this thesis attempts to solve this puzzle. The thesis argues that the external influences of democratization are not given; incumbents can neutralize both direct and indirect influences of western linkage. Through examination of Hungarian and Turkish cases, the thesis finds that : (1) Incumbents could neutralize direct influences of democratization by decreasing their linkages to the west and increasing their ties to autocratic powers (2) They could neutralize indirect influences through personalized political parties and creation of a minimal winning coalition where the former neutralizes the political elite and the latter neutralizes the economic elite. The analysis is based on testing Levitsky and Way’s (2010) claims on how western linkage provides shapes and incentivızes interests that lead to democratization. Overall, the study shows that theories of democratization are insufficient to explain evident democratic backsliding. Therefore, scholars should come up with new conceptualizations and theories to explain de-democratization. |
| Supervisor | Bozóki, András |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2019/yavuz_mehmet.pdf |
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