How do local actors interpret, enact and contest policy? An analysis of local government responses to meeting the needs of Syrian refugees in Turkey

ABSTRACT

Although 98% of Turkey’s 3.6 million Syrian refugees live outside camps, municipalities lack formal authority to initiate policies, while receiving no government funding for refugees. Drawing on interpretive policy analysis (IPA), the article unpacks the empirical puzzle of how formally weak local governments respond to refugee needs. IPA expects policy to be constituted through diverse sets of local meanings. Case studies in three districts in Istanbul revealed distinctive local narratives, some of which consolidated the national agenda of ‘hospitality’ while others focused on equal rights and integration. Municipal narratives reflected particular local contexts, selectively mobilizing deeper governing traditions. Local interpretations were enacted in specific approaches to refugee service delivery. Working with local NGOs, municipalities accessed international funds, despite national government’s vociferous critique of EU refugee policy. Even in an increasingly authoritarian setting, refugee policy was being constituted through multiple and contingent processes of local government interpretation.

KEYWORDS:

• Turkish local government
• syrian refugees
• interpretive policy analysis
• interpretivism

Acknowledgments

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 69th Annual Conference of the Political Studies Association (April 2019), at the Centre for Ideology and Discourse Analysis, University of Essex (October 2019) and at an online seminar at Işık University (May, 2020). The authors would like to thank the participants at both events for their valuable comments. Thanks are also due to Ebru Dalgakıran and Asuman Baş for research assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Mourad (2017) investigates the role of national level inaction (and ambiguity) in Lebanon’s response to Syrian refugee arrivals, linking this to the emergence of municipalities as key actors. We would like to thank one of the anonymous referees for directing us to these similar findings in the case of Lebanon.

2. Article 13 (Municipal Law 5393) states that: ‘everyone is a townsman of the town in which he lives.. entitled to take part in municipal decision making and services, receive information on municipal activities and benefit from the aids distributed by the municipal administration’. Municipalities interpret the law differently; some exercise caution to avoid fraud allegations. More inclusive approaches are gaining ground as municipalities learn from one another.

3. International reports provide information on aims, recipients, partners and funding for local projects such as municipal infrastructure, refugee protection, education (UNHCR’s Regional Refugee & Resilience Plans, Report on EU Facility for Refugees in Turkey, Syria Crisis and Resilience Response of UNDP in Turkey).

4. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51707958.

5. National narratives portraying refugees as escaping the ‘tyranny of the Syrian regime’ use the term muhacir (‘migrant’) from Islamic history, denoting the move from Mecca to Medina in 7th century because of religious persecution. The Turkish people are referred to as ensar, a positive description of Medina inhabitants helping Muslims fleeing Mecca.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by British Academy Research Grant NAFR1180177.

Notes on contributors

Vivien Lowndes

Vivien Lowndes is Professor of Public Policy in the Institute of Local Government Studies, at the University of Birmingham, UK. She undertakes research, teaching and knowledge transfer on local governance and public services, with a particular interest in institutional change, citizen participation, community cohesion and gender issues. She is co-editor (with Dave Marsh and Gerry Stoker) of Theories and Methods in Political Science (Palgrave, 2017), and the author of numerous journal articles in her field.

Rabia Karakaya Polat

Rabia Karakaya Polat is Professor of Political Science in the Department of International Relations at Işık University, Turkey. Her research focuses on the political implications of technology (particularly the Internet); critical security studies; and critical discourse analysis. She has published articles in various journals including Critical Discourse Studies, Citizenship Studies, Security Dialogue, and Parliamentary Affairs.