A Drastic Change in the Turkish Government System: Presidential Government System

Abstract

A constitutional amendment referendum was held on April 16, 2017, in Turkey, and most citizens accepted the new government system. The new system called as ‘Turkish Presidential Government Model,' which could be called a form of a presidential system. In this system, the executive body consisting of the President, prime minister, and the council of ministers was gathered under the presidency. The President has become the sole authority in the executive power. The Presidential Government System is expressed as a government system based on the elected President and the unitary state structure. After the elections, systematic transformations were carried out in the public administration organization with the presidential decrees. In particular, the structure of the central government structure has completely changed. Accordingly, various institutions, ministries, and organizations were closed or merged. A vice president is envisaged to assist the President in executing the system. In addition, nine presidential policy boards and four presidential offices are designed as units to advise the President during the policymaking process. The system's formation has the elasticity of institutional changes and expansions based on global needs. Currently, transformations in the field of Turkish public administration are continuing. This study compares the public policymaking process of the new and old governmental systems. The main research question is to see which governmental system could be called more pluralistic in policymaking. The functions of policy boards and the roles of ministers will be discussed in this aim. In this context, the policymaking processes of new structures will be examined with institutional analysis. The pluralism of the policymaking process will be discussed through the position of policy boards, presidential offices, and ministers in the new system. For this reason, legal regulations and institutional structures will be examined, and the differences between the new and the old systems will be compared. Unlike the Central Asian countries, which have recently gained experience in transitioning from a presidential system to a parliamentary system, Turkey, has experienced the transition from a parliamentary system to a presidential system. Therefore, the Turkish case could be an important example of comparative research. The study's overarching aim is to present the Turkish public administration system's general transformations and introduce new policy actors. Furthermore, this study scrutinizes the presidential government system, focuses on Turkey's executive power, and tries to analyze the administrative reforms and their effects. Thus, it will be aimed to reveal the advantages and disadvantages of both models through the example of Turkey. This way, the advantages and problematic areas of the new presidential model's administrative structure will be examined.