State rescaling and the dynamics of government-business relations in two Turkish cities

In recent years, many countries have witnessed a state rescaling process through the reconfiguration of power relations between the central and local governments. This reconfiguration under the neoliberal globalization also has reshaped government-business relations. This dissertation examines the emergence of the local government as a new element in government-business relations, which remains an under-researched subject in the literature. It draws on the extensive analyses of legislative and administrative changes, tender statistics, media reports, and the result of field research in two important Turkish cities, namely İstanbul and Konya. Comparing İstanbul with a middle-sized city like Konya aims to attain a better understanding of the impact of "scale-related difference" on government-business relations. The comparison of these cities also gives opportunity to examine how political cleavages and tensions within the power block at the local level shape business interest and growth. This dissertation shows that tenders of local governments contributed to the emergence and development of a new group of politically privileged business people close to municipal governments. Nevertheless, it argues that the central government still plays at least three significant roles in shaping government-business relations at the local level. First, relations at the local level could only be sustained through heavy political intervention in the tender processes through legislative and administrative changes, which requires the involvement of the central government authorities. In the Turkish context under analysis, "gradual and incremental institutional changes" are found to be important for expanding the scope of political discretion. Second, the central government in Turkey continues to carry out infrastructure projects in urban areas which also provide opportunities for the business growth. Third, it also attempts to shape business coalitions and conflicts at the local level by taking political action in favor of some groups while excluding others. Overall, this dissertation investigates both the role of the local government and the interface between central and local levels of government in shaping the capital accumulation process.