The factors that determining voting preference in Turkey within the context of voter behavior theories: An assessment on the 2015 General Elections

Governments are elected by votes given in elections which are held periodically, transparently, supervised by law and with a fair competition in democratic political systems. Every action in which the voter participates in order to determine the power is considered voter behavior. The concept of voter behavior is explained with three basic theories: sociological, psychological and economic in the literature. These three theories are dealt with within the framework of basic models such as group membership, party identity and strategic voting, respectively. As voters are affected by many different factors while voting, voter behavior is also explained within the framework of these factors. Voter behavior in Turkey is determined by both universal and country-specific factors that determine voter behavior in the world. Perhaps the most interesting and rapid change in the voters' decision on their political preferences and voting was the two general elections held in 2015, with an interval of five months. In this sense, this period can be considered as an important laboratory in terms of understanding the main factors affecting the behavior of the voters in Turkey. The General Elections of 7 June and 1 November 2015 resulted in significantly different voting rates. The characteristics of the period between these two elections and the developments in this period directly or indirectly affected the decision-making processes of the electorate. In this study, the factors affecting voter behavior in the short term are discussed in the context of theories of voter behavior, taking into account the extraordinary events of the period. In particular, by revealing the reasons for the rapid and high rate of change in voter behavior, the factors that affect voter behavior in the short term and which are specific to Turkey are investigated.