CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2022
| Author | Garibova Sada |
|---|---|
| Title | What Explains Changes In the Legitimation Strategies of Non-Democratic Regimes: The Case of the Erdogan Regime in Turkey |
| Summary | Authoritarian durability literature has recently dedicated significant attention to legitimation as a crucial part of a regime’s toolbox to prolong its lifespan and various legitimation strategies have been put under scholarly scrutiny. However, surprisingly, no study has ever systematically examined under what conditions regimes choose one or another strategy. The thesis addresses this theoretical gap in the literature by conducting a hypothesis-generating case study in the case of Turkey. Using Coleman’s (1986) ‘bathtub’ causal model, it argues that as rational actors, regimes pragmatically opt for one or another legitimation strategy given what challenges and opportunities they have. In doing so, the thesis also examines the legitimation strategies’ interaction with other pillars of regime durability and the implications of democratic backsliding. It concludes economic growth/decline is the key factor defining the increase or decrease in employment of performance legitimation claims. When the economy declines, performance deficit is usually compensated with ideological legitimation and more assertive foreign policy discourses. Increased repression is usually accompanied by increased ideological legitimation, including those aimed at the polarization of society across ideological lines. Co-optation leads to an adjustment in ideological legitimation claims to make them more acceptable for the newly co-opted groups. The thesis also offers a model of the impact of democratic backsliding on the selection of legitimation strategies, which predicts increased person of a leader and ideological legitimation, as well as decreased legal-rational and performance legitimation as a result of backsliding |
| Supervisor | Bogaards Matthijs |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2022/garibova_sada.pdf |
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