![Sample our Area Studies journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5922/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Area-Studies.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
This study applies the rational choice perspective to government religion policy in Turkey. We argue that a rational choice analysis can provide a new perspective on how the pro-Islamist Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi – AKP) transformed Turkey’s religion policy from one that was constitutionally secular to one which strongly supports Islam. We also further develop the rational choice approach arguing that radical transitions in religion policy are often incremental and require support from political allies. Also, while the motivation for transitioning from a secular regime to a religious monopoly may be due to a desire for religious legitimacy, the nature and timing of this transition may be influenced by the rise or decline of other bases for legitimacy. Overall, this study demonstrates the utility of applying the rational choice theory of religion to Muslim-majority countries and the mechanisms through which countries change their religion policies.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Jonathan Fox
Jonathan Fox (Ph.D. in Government & Politics, University of Maryland 1997) is the Yehuda Avner Professor of Religion and Politics at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan Israel and director of the Religion and State Project (www.religionandstate.org). He has published over 100 articles and 15 books on various topics in religion and politics. His recent books include Religious Minorities at Risk and Why do People Discriminate Against Jews? are both published with Oxford University Press.
Ahmet Erdi Öztürk
Ahmet Erdi Öztürk is Reader of politics and international relations at London Metropolitan University, UK. He was a Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellow at Coventry University in the UK and GIGA in Germany (between 2021-2023). He is Associate Researcher at the Institut Français d’Études Anatoliennes (Istanbul, Turkey) and at ELIAMEP (Athens, Greece). He is the author of more than 45 peer-reviewed journal articles, numerous policy reports, opinion pieces and co-editor of four special journal issues and the author of four books on religion and politics and Turkish politics. He is the winner of 2021 London Metropolitan University Outstanding Early Career Researcher, as well as 2022 ISA’s ENMISA and 2023 ISA’s REL Emerging Scholar Awards.