AN EVALUATION ON DEMOCRATIC PARTY (1946) IN THE CONTEXT OF FORMATION THEORIES, TYPOLOGIES OF POLITICAL PARTIES AND INSTITUTIONALIZATION CRITERIA

Abstract

The Democratic Party (1946) is an important party in terms of Turkish Political Life because of its critical role in the transition to multi-party system. The main purpose of this study is to make an assessment on The Democratic Party (1946) within the Birth Theories, Typologies of Political Parties and their Institutionalization Criteria. In accordance with this purpose the following questions were tried to be answered: Which theories can explain the party in the framework of Birth Theories? What is the place of the party in terms of party typologies? How can the party be assessed in the context of the institutionalization? Historical background, birth, level of institutionalization, typology of the party are elaborated in separate sections. The method preferred in this study is descriptive. Ultimately when data was interpreted, it was concluded that the party can be included in modernization, legitimacy and participation crises, parties which birth in parliament categories. In addition, typologically the party has characteristic of cadre and mass party as well as it has mostly the feature of cadre party and shows properties of catch all party. Finally, it has been seen that the party is weaker in terms of adaptability, complexity and consistency in the framework of institutionalization criteria, and stronger in terms of autonomy.