Reflections of the neoliberal transformation in Turkish public administration: The case of the Sugar Authority

This study focuses on the transformation of traditional public administration approach from past to present within the scope of globalization with neoliberal policies developed as a result of economic and political crises, and it is the subject of the restructuring of public administration and the change of management understanding with these transformations. It focuses on the administrative transformation of the Sugar Authority, which is an one of the independent regulatory agencies (IRAs) that enables the analysis of neoliberal policies both in agriculture and in the state. As a reflection of the neoliberal policies and globalization concepts, which are felt all over the world, this effect is also seen in Turkey, especially in the USA and Continental European countries. Especially with the increasing neoliberal policies and the new right-wing view in Turkey since the 1980s, a new structure was aimed to be brought to the forefront with the criticism of the state-assisted regulation and supervision duties, and in this context, it was more autonomous and equipped, far from political interventions and it was found appropriate to be performed by the experts of the work. By the end of the 20th century, it is seen that the neoliberal policies, which became widespread on a global scale, and the new public management approach created by these policies brought out IRAs as institutional structuring. Bottom line, it is important to first understand the understanding of the state and public administration in the historical process, and then to understand the place, functioning and importance of IRAs in Turkey in the light of political and economic ideas emerging in the new world order. In this context, in this study, the transformation of the Turkish public administration under the influence of neoliberal policies was examined and the transition process of the Sugar Authority, which is an independent administrative authority, to the Sugar Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry was discussed in detail.