Department of International RelationsDepartment of Business Administration2024-11-0920190962-629810.1016/j.polgeo.2018.11.0092-s2.0-85058223652https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14288/3147Moving beyond the analytical characteristics of apportionment methods or election systems, this article focuses on their outcomes in practice. We illustrate how apportionment and partisan biases working with a high threshold created an electoral environment conducive to the establishment of a predominant party system. We use the historical example of the Turkish experience. We trace the historical development of disproportionality for the entire multi-party elections for the 1950-2015 period. Focusing on the five most recent elections of this period since 2002, we demonstrate how the biases introduced by the apportionment method in use and the 10% threshold have advantaged the leading Justice and Development Party (Adalet ye Kalkinma Partisi, AKP). Our study suggests that a partisan bias favoring AKP still continues to exist at a lower level even after correcting the apportionment and the threshold biases. We underline how these biases form the foundation for a conservative over-representation and emphasize the path-dependent dynamics that keep challengers to the AKP away from the electoral scene, effectively helping to continue its hegemonic position in the system.pdfGeographyPolitical scienceJournal Article1873-5096https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2018.11.009461263800005N/ANOIR02621