Collective Action, Civil Society, and Public Policy in Turkey

Abstract

Understanding policy change mechanisms has been a key question for scholars of public policy and collective action. However, policy scholarship mostly ignores civil society-based explanations of policy processes. In order to address this gap, this study combines the Advocacy Coalition Framework with networked collective action perspectives and analyzes a successful case of mobilization of women’s rights organizations in Turkey to reverse a bill on child marriage. Study findings suggest that advocacy coalitions are not static entities. When different issues in a policy subsystem are invoked, the structure of inter-coalition networks can change substantially and these variations in inter-coalition interactions may have consequences for influencing policy change. Moreover, this paper argues that extensive street protests and online campaigns by civil society organizations have the capacity to boost the bargaining power of minority coalitions, especially in contexts that lack multiple formal venues for making policy claims.

Keywords:

• comparative public policy
• civil society
• political networks
• Turkey
• ACF

Notes

1. Turkish Statistical Institute, http://www.tuik.gov.tr/HbPrint.do?id=24645.

2. “Turkey should reject child abuse law shielding men who marry from punishment: UN”, Reuters (2016), http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-politics-law-sexcrimes/turkey-should-reject-child-abuse-law-shielding-men-who-marry-from-punishment-u-n-idUSKBN13G22K.

3. “2016ʹda Twitter’da ne konusuldu?” [What was spoken at Twitter in 2016?], Mediacat (2016), http://www.mediacatonline.com/2016da-twitterda-ne-konusuldu/.

4. “Itiraz ediyoruz” [We object!], Kadinin Insan Haklari Yeni Cozumler Dernegi (2016), http://www.kadinininsanhaklari.org/.

5. “Bozdag kadin dernekleri temsilcilerini dinledi” [Bozdag listened to representatives from women’s organizations], Al Jazeera (2016) retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com.tr/haber/bozdag-kadin-dernekleri-temsilcilerini-dinledi.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Güneş Ertan

Güneş Ertan is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy in the Department of International Relations at Koç University. Her research focuses on public policy and civil society networks, and network cognition.