Perception of democracy in Birikim periodical: A socialist approach to Turkey?s issues

In the nineteenth century, as general ballot started to become widespread, democracy concept gained representative quality while escaping from its meaning in the Ancient Greek. Democracy reached to its associated meaning today as women gained voting rights in the 20th century. In the first half of the 20th century, socialist block and western block were fighting over the ownership of `democracy? concept. Both blocks wanted to justify their constitutions as being more democratic.The course of worldwide expansion of liberal democracy which is characterized by Huntington as `Third Wave? strengthened the idea of the absence of `alternatives? to the liberal democracy as the ending of the bipolar world after 1989. However, on the one hand absoluteness and universality is pointed out for western democracies, on the other hand `the legitimacy crisis of liberal democracy? is started to be debated intensely. Radical democracy theorems, which are in interaction with post Marxist thought but also not far from liberal tradition, came out to find a solution to the legitimacy crisis of liberal democracy and to reestablish the values and principles of democratic governance. The fact that increasing demands of the different identities emerging in social and political area in the western societies in 1960s, and class notion losing its homogeneity can be stated as the background feeding radical theorems. Democracy according to Marxist thought that is having different view from liberal and radical view, is `solved puzzle of all the political primary structures?. According to the Marxists, `real democracy? can only be lived when proletariat became the dominant class position and win the war of democracy.Birikim periodical, starting publication in 1975, after its disruption in 1980 starting again in 1989, has a unique democracy view in Turkey?s socialist thought. In the Birikim periodical, the emphasis is on the fact that socialism can be reached only widening and deepening democracy. `Democracy? mentioned here, emerge from the meeting of different views in democracy theory context with socialist thought.In the view of essential issues and problems concerning Turkish political life, `democracy? notion was the key notion in Birikim periodical to the point where these issues are debated and these problems are solved.