The Banning of Political Parties by Constitutional Courts: A Turkish Perspective Open Access

Friedman, Ross (2010)

Permanent URL: https://etd.library.emory.edu/concern/etds/bc386j812?locale=en
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Abstract

Abstract

The Banning of Political Parties by Constitutional Courts: A Turkish Perspective
By Ross J. Friedman


The author examines the conditions under which constitutional courts choose to close political
parties. In order to understand the factors that encourage or discourage a court to close a political
party, the author focuses on the case of Turkey. The rulings of the Constitutional Court provide
ample variation between closed parties and not closed parties for study. The author tests four
hypotheses, focusing on threats to a regime, fragmentation, public support, and international
influences. Quantitative analysis is used to determine the statistical significance of these variables
individually. The author also considers independent variables in both a multivariable model and an
interactive hypothesis model. From the analysis, the author concludes that a significant relationship
exists between threat and the likelihood to close political parties. The author also discovers that
fragmentation is a significant factor in the banning of political parties. Additionally, the author
asserts that international influences are an important consideration for courts when considering
whether or not to close a political party. From these findings, the author discusses broader
implications for the banning of political parties in a democratic setting.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1
Chapter 2: Theory ...........................................................................................................................7
Chapter 3: The Turkish Case ............................................................................................................19
Chapter 4: Data .............................................................................................................................32
Chapter 5: Estimation and Results......................................................................................................42
Table 5.1: Result and Threat Crosstabulation ......................................................................................43
Table 5.2: Result and Absolute Majority Crosstabulation ........................................................................45
Table 5.3: Result and Veto Players Crosstabulation ...............................................................................46
Table 5.4: Difference of Means test of Age of Political Parties .................................................................48
Table 5.5: Public Support for Entry to the European Union to Turkey ........................................................51
Table 5.6: Imports from the European Union to Turkey............................................................................51
Table 5.7: Exports to the European Union.............................................................................................52
Figure 5.1: Likelihood of Closure with Respect to Time.............................................................................53
Table 5.8: Complete Multivariate Logisitic Regression Models ....................................................................55
Table 5.9: Predicted Values of Threat..................................................................................................55
Table 5.10: Predicted Likelihood of Closure Based Upon Veto Players .........................................................56
Figure 5.2: Predicted Values with Respect to Party Age ..........................................................................57
Figure 5.3: Predicted Values with Respect to EU Exports .........................................................................58
Figure 5.4: Predicted Values with Respect to EU Imports .........................................................................59
Figure 5.5: Predicted Values with Respect to Time..................................................................................60
Table 5.11: Interaction of Threat Conditioned by Age .............................................................................61
Table 5.12: Predicted Probabilities of Closure.........................................................................................62
Table 5.13: Interaction between Threat and Exports to the EU ................................................................62
Table 5.14: Predicted Probabilities of Closure.........................................................................................63
Table 5.15: Interaction of Threat Conditioned by Veto Players .................................................................63
Table 5.16: Predicted Probabilities of Closure.........................................................................................64
Table 5.17: Result and Far Left Parties Crosstabulation............................................................................65
Table 5.18: Result and Religious Parties Crosstabulation ..........................................................................66
Table 5.19: Result and Kurdish Parties Crosstabulation.............................................................................68
Chapter 6: Conclusion........................................................................................................................71

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