Comparative Democratization and Culture: Turkey’s Jacksonian Moment

Abstract

Comparative Democratization and Culture: Turkey’s Jacksonian Moment This article compares and contrasts the legacies of two prominent politicians, who are important milestones in the history of democratization in their respective countries, to explore the link between political culture and democratization. These are the seventh American President Andrew Jackson (1829 – 1837) and the current Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (2003 – ). Both Jackson and Erdogan emerged from humble backgrounds, claimed to represent the people and their interests against the established elite, and faced systemic obstacles on their way to political power. Jackson’s innovative contributions to modern democracy were the creation of a party press and the spoils system in public appointments. These served his ultimate political purpose, which was to create equal economic opportunities for the American people. In contrast, Erdogan rooted out almost every vestige of opposition in the mass media and used the spoils system in the service of his ultimate political purpose, which is to re-Islamize Turkey. Arguably, these differences reflect the cultural obstacles to the formation of liberal democracy in contemporary Islamic societies.