An applied study on perception of democracy: The case of Trabzon

Democracy is a form of government that includes the most possibilities and opportunities for the management of the people, along with its basic values and qualities such as equality, freedom, political participation and political representation. In the last quarter of the 20th century, a crisis of representation or legitimacy emerged in liberal democracies and the main solution in overcoming the problems caused by this was the dissemination of participatory democracy. Although democracy is a global phenomenon, every society has its own experience of democracy. Perceptions and expectations regarding democracy are formed both ideal democracy and in terms of existing political administrations within the context of the society's own experience, political culture and habits. In the formation of democratic culture, individual and social values and features in a society are as important as the existence of democratic institutions in that society. Barriers to democratization of social culture must be removed to ensure democracy is established in society. In this context, the purpose of this study is to reveal the perception of democracy in Trabzon and the research has been realized with a 3-point perspective based on perception, experience and expectation. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were used together to achieve this purpose, and a survey was conducted with 386 people and in-depth interview with 26 people living in Trabzon city. The main finding obtained as a result of the research is that democracy is experienced within the framework of elections and voting activities rather than other features of democracy. While there is trust in democracy as a phenomenon, trust in representation institutions, its institutionalized form, is low. Public participation, which is the basis of democracy, is limited to elections due to distrust of political participation outside the elections. The problem of being represented due to insecurity to the representatives and the disconnection between the administration and the public brought along the demand to be consulted with the public in making decisions. It is the practical problems of democracy, shaping the public's expectations that can be summarized as "more democracy". Basically, the demands for equality, freedom, justice and the expectations to be taken into consideration by the public have been a reflection of the people's perceptions of democracy and their current experiences.