Terminological comparison in the framework of decentralization theory and propositions for Turkey

Decentralization is an essential concept in the public administration field that undergoes evolution in international usage and whose content is being debated. Many conceptual advancements and transformations occurred in the scientific and expert circles in the last half-century regarding this concept (including other related concepts such as deconcentration, delegation, devolution). At the same time, many difficulties and shortcomings are witnessed in the usage of the term "decentralization" in the Turkish language. The terms currently widely used in Turkish to cover the concept, yerinden yönetim or ademimerkeziyet, appear insufficient for adequately reflecting the developments in the international literature and terminology. The limitations of the existing terms appear in particular in three areas: the problem of terminological unity, the problem of adequacy /appropriateness of the term, and especially their impractical nature for the term derivatives. Considerable divergence in points of view and conceptual debates are witnessed in regard to the concept of decentralization both at international level and in Turkey. Also, when analyzed the process of development of the concept, it becomes clear that the narrative in the Turkish literature needs to be updated in order to reflect the progress realized in the international literature. Following the analysis of the decentralization and other related concepts, and in order to better grasp the process of development of the concept in the international literature, a particular categorization has been made in the thesis dividing the development process into five stages. The key target concepts of the thesis (decentralization, deconcentration, delegation, devolution) have been analyzed by studying the basic structural elements of the terms behind the concepts and their "behavioural patters". As a result, "structural definitions" have been proposed for these terms. Next to that, a paradigm shift in the decentralization conceptualization that appears to be necessary is proposed in the thesis. Accordingly, the traditional concept of center should be revisited to better comprehend the nature of the decentralization. For that, in addition to a horizontal plane, a vertical plane has also been proposed. In this light, the concept of "top" has been suggested as an alternative to the concept of centre. Thus an easier understanding of the concept of decentralization is pursued by giving it a tripled/triangle-based conception. On the other side, the translation of terms and concepts reminds how much important is the language in the field of public administration. When analyzed the key components of the translation process of the terms emerging in the international sphere, the following basic stages can be distinguished: the reality represented by the concept (what is being imagined and named), the equivalent in the term's "home tongue" (the English wording of the term), and finally the appropriate translation of the concept into the target language. In order to transport the term into Turkish, one should not just look at the term itself, but also look behind the curtain and focus on the reality behind it. In order to gain a better perspective, the usage of term decentralization in Western and Eastern languages has been studied in this thesis. The ways of constructing terms in the Turkish language have been taken into account for the translation of decentralization and other connected concepts while paying attention to their structural components. The thesis researched the equivalents in the Turkish language that are most appropriate for translating the terms and suitable for constructing term's derivatives, and this by making structural analysis of the key concepts and the terms that express them. For this purpose, a series of experiments have been realized using the root center (merkez) as well as its suggested alternatives, in order to generate terms with the use of suffixes. The most preferred ones from among these suggestions are: merkezelsizlem or derelsizlem for decentralization, yığsızlam or yoğsuzlam for deconcentration, verlem or sallam for devolution, tutulam or sarklam for delegation. The work also included a rarer variant of decentralization, the word "decentration" for which the equivalents merkesizlem or dersizlem have been suggested. In the same line, for its opposite concept of "centration" the words merkezlem or derlem were proposed. It is considered that the usage of these terms offers the following advantages: 1) It allows to respond to the need for new terms by mobilizing the Turkish language's potential, and at the same time it contributes to the development of the language, rather than using the existing terms; 2) Thanks to the closeness to the daily popular language, it helps to make easy the understanding and recognition of the new term in Turkish language and in the Turkic dialects. The concept thus becomes easily recognizable and known. 3) The most important virtue of this approach is that it gives an advantage for generating often needed term derivatives, and insures adaptability of the new form by giving it flexibility and agility. Finally, a series of suggestions are made for future research efforts on the concept of decentralization and other related concepts. Keywords: Decentralization, Decentration, Deconcentration, Delegation, Devolution