Intra party of democracy in Republican People's Party: The case of İstanbul- Fatih

Political parties are indispensable components of modern and democratic states. According to democracy theory analyses, political parties are the product of two centuries of social, economic and political struggles. In this study an exploration of what political parties are, what benefit they have, what role they play and what purpose they serve will be made by analytically examining existing sources on the mater. Moreover, the notion of democracy within political parties is considered in respect of party membership in light of the rights and duties of members, the decision making process, the selection process of candidates and the generation of funds. The core subject matter of the article is the structure and scope of democracy within the institution of The Republican People's Party of The Republic of Turkey. The research method of this study comprises 210 questionnaires and 8 interviews conducted by The Republican People's Party with the demographics of the Istanbul district of Fatih. As a result the notions of member rights, decision making processes, candidate selection methods, and funding are examined according to the principles of participation and centralisation of institutional democracy. In the example of the CHP Istanbul borough of Fatih, we can observe that although the membership rights, duties and decision making processes are of a participatory nature, its implementations are applied on a centrist viewpoint. In The Republican People's Party the selection of party candidates is far from participatory and is rather profoundly governed in a centrist fashion. Despite recent structuring in funding that has adopted a more participatory approach, expenditure is nevertheless administered according to centrist values. As a result it is concluded that the institutional democracy of the CHP is not implemented by participatory ideals but is instead governed centrally. Keywords: Political Parties, Institutional Democracy, The Republican People's Party