Polarized partisanship in Turkey
A vast literature demonstrates that partisanship has a stabilizing impact on politics, as it limits electoral volatility. Recent studies have also shown that polarization increases partisanship; as parties differ more in their policy positions, they become more visible and citizens identify themselves more with a political party. Polarization thus leads to partisanship, and partisanship stabilizes the politics. While multiple studies have already tested the application of party identification outside the US, less is known about the implications of party identification in polarized non-consolidated democracies. Focusing on Turkey, this study investigates partisanship in a highly polarized context by means of data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems, modules 3 and 4. The results suggest that Turkey, after decades of electoral instability, has been stabilized with an increase in partisanship. However, this research also finds that high polarization in Turkey is associated with more biased perceptions of short-term factors. This study draws normative implications about partisanship in light of democratic theory.
voting behavior party identification polarization vote Turkey