Turkey's Republican People's Party Intra-Party Democracy and Ideological Change under Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu

Chapter 1 – Introduction. Opposition Parties and Party Change in Authoritarian Regimes: the case of Turkey’s CHP
1.1 The Turkish Case: Why the CHP Matters
1.2 The Research Question
1.3 The Structure of the Book
1.4 Methodology and Data Collection
1.4.1 Process tracing
1.4.2 Semi-Structured, Focused Interviews
References

Chapter 2 – The CHP in an Authoritarianizing Turkey: Party Change and the Transformation of Political Cleavages (2010– 2023)
2.1 A new leader: Deniz Baykal’s resignation and the election of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu
2.1.1 The problem of the “pending bylaws” of the 14th Extraordinary Convention (22 December 2008)
2.1.2 The 33rd Ordinary Convention (22–23 May 2010)
2.1.3 An early change of internal alliances: the “Bylaws Earthquake” and the end of Önder Sav’s era
2.2 The 15th Extraordinary Convention (19 December 2010): first steps towards the «New CHP»
2.2.1 The new Party Assembly and Central Executive Committee (MYK)
2.3 The General Elections (12 June 2011) and the 16th and 17th “double” Extraordinary Conventions (26–27 February 2012)
2.3.1 The first electoral test for Kılıçdaroğlu’s “New CHP”
2.3.2 The two old allies-turned-rivals come together again: the first round of Baykal and Sav’s challenge to the Yeni CHP
2.3.3 From the “crisis of the agenda” to the new bylaws: the 16th and 17th “double” Extraordinary Conventions (26–27 February 2012)
2.4 The 34th Ordinary Convention (17–18 July 2012)
2.4.1 Local Congresses and internal clashes within the MYK
2.4.2 The 34th Ordinary Convention (17–18 July 2012)
2.4.3 The new Party Assembly and Central Executive Committee (MYK)
2.5 2014: The Local and Presidential elections (March 30 – August 10, 2014) and the 18th Extraordinary Convention (September 5–6, 2014)
2.5.1 The CHP in 2013: still old wine in the “Yeni” wineskin
2.5.2 The Local Elections (March 30, 2014)
2.5.3 The aftermath of the local elections: a first formulation of the "Kılıçdaroğlu doctrine" and the MYK reshuffle (May 8, 2014)
2.5.4 The Presidential Election (August 10, 2014) and its aftermath
2.5.5 The 18th Extraordinary Convention (September 5–6, 2014)
2.6 The 2015 General Elections (June 7 and November 1)
2.6.1 The selection method and its implementation: a hybrid system with prevalence of primaries
2.6.2 The June 7 election and its aftermath
2.6.3 The November 1 early elections
2.7 The 35th Ordinary Convention (January 16–17, 2016): a large renewal determined by the local branches
2.7.1 The provincial congresses and the start of the Convention
2.7.2 The impact of the local branches on the new party administration
2.8 From the Constitutional referendum (April 16, 2017) to the March for Justice (June/July 2017)
2.8.1 The lift of parliamentarian immunities rocked again CHP’s boat
2.8.2 The failed coup of July 15 and the Yenikapı meeting
2.8.3 The Constitutional Referendum (April 16, 2017) starts new internal debates
2.8.4 The March of Justice (Adalet Yürüyüşü, June 15 – July 6, 2017)
2.9 The 36th Ordinary Convention (February 3–4, 2018) and the 19th Extraordinary “Bylaws” Convention (March 9–10, 2018)
2.9.1 The local congress phase
2.9.2 The definition of Kılıçdaroğlu’s challengers
2.9.3 The 36th Ordinary Convention (February 3–4, 2018)
2.9.4 The 19th Extraordinary Convention and the new bylaws (9–10 March, 2018)
2.10 The General and Presidential early Elections (June 24, 2018)
2.10.1 From the theorization of the “50%+1 bloc” to the formation of the Nation Alliance (Millet İttifakı)
2.10.2 The candidates’ selection process
2.10.3 The General and Presidential Elections (June 24, 2018)
2.10.4 The aftermath of the election: the intra-party opposition’s demands for an early Convention
2.10.5 The petition for an Extraordinary Convention
2.10.6 The MYK reshuffle (August 10, 2018)
2.11 The Local Elections (March 31, 2019) and the 37th Ordinary Convention (July 25–26, 2020)
2.11.1 The Local Elections (March 31, 2019)
2.11.2 The result of the local elections and the repetition of the vote in İstanbul (June 23, 2019)
2.11.3 “Compactness over competition”: the provincial congress phase
2.11.4 The 37th Ordinary Convention (July 25–26, 2020): the “Call to the Second Century” (İkinci Yüzyıla Çağrı)
2.12 The General and Presidential Elections (May 14–28, 2023) and the 38th Ordinary Convention (November 4–5, 2023)
2.12.1 The Table of Six (Altılı Masa)
2.12.2 The definition of the joint candidate
2.12.3 The General and Presidential elections (May 14-28, 2023)
2.12.4 The 38th Ordinary Convention (November 4–5, 2023)
References

Chapter 3 – Reforming the Party from Within: Intra-Party Democracy under Kılıçdaroğlu
3.1 Conceptualization, theoretical framework, and methodology
3.2 Candidate selection
3.2.1 Candidate selection in the CHP: an overview
3.2.2 The evolution of candidate selection methods in the CHP between Baykal (1992–2010) and Kılıçdaroğlu (2010–2023)
3.2.3 Candidate selection: overall IPD score
3.3 Leadership selection
3.3.1 Leadership selection in the CHP: an overview
3.3.2 The election of the party Chairman
3.3.3 The election of the Party Assembly (Parti Meclisi)
3.3.4 Leadership selection: overall IPD score
3.4 Discussion
3.4.1 The impact of environmental factors
References

Chapter 4 – From Nationalism to Social Democracy? Ideological Repositioning and Discursive Change in the CHP
4.1 The left-right spectrum in Turkey and the position of the CHP: literature review and critical reassessment
4.2 A closer look at the ideological inconsistency of the CHP and its understanding of social democracy
4.3 Tracking the ideological evolution of the CHP (1992–2023)
4.3.1 Discussion of the Manifesto Project data and its limits
4.4 Intra-party power relations and organizational dynamics: a key to understand party change
4.5 Changes in the CHP party elites and ideological change
4.5.1 Secularism
4.5.2 Social democracy
4.5.3 The Kurdish issue: Turkish nationalism and ulusalcılık
4.6 Discussion: coalition magnets, collective incentives, ideological change
References

Chapter 5 – Conclusions: Party Transformation and Democratic Resilience in Turkey
5.1 Organizational change and intra-party democracy
5.2 Ideological change, coalition magnets, and the “Kılıçdaroğlu doctrine”
5.3 Electoral outcomes, authoritarian context, and the limits of transformation
5.4 Broader implications and future research
5.5 Insights on the post-2023 developments in Turkish politics

INDEX

Biography

Carlo Sanna (PhD) is a political scientist and researcher specializing in international studies, Turkish politics and Middle Eastern and Mediterranean politics. He earned a PhD with honors in International Studies and currently collaborates with the Regional Council of Sardinia while teaching at the University of Sassari and collaborating in research at the University of Cagliari. His research focuses on Turkey–EU relations, populism, party politics, and regional cooperation, with publications in national and international academic journals and volumes.