Taking sides: determinants of support for a presidential system in Turkey

Abstract

A key issue on the Turkish political agenda concerns a transition to presidentialism, with a constitutional amendment proposal submitted in December 2016. While the positions of political elites are well known, we lack a detailed analysis of the electorate's views on such a transition. To fill this gap, we present cross-sectional and panel data collected over the period from spring 2015 to winter 2015-16. Partisanship emerges as the key factor shaping views on presidentialism, and reflections of the centre-periphery cleavage in Turkish politics are also visible. The shift of the Turkish nationalist constituency's views in favour of presidentialism has been a significant trend in the aftermath of the June 2015 general election.