Re-examining the state - citizen relationship and citizenship practices in Turkey

The purpose of this study, which deals with the state–citizen relationship and citizenship practices in Turkey, is to examine the social impact of the state on citizens and to question why democracy in Turkey cannot function with all its institutions and rules, and why the civil sphere cannot expand. Besides, the study questions why the democratization efforts in Turkey have not been fully successful and what prevents the formation of a pluralistic structure. Though parties with different ideologies have come to power, it also deals with the patrimonial management approach that tries to regulate every field, as well as why the authoritarian statist management mentality re-emerges and how it reproduces itself in different forms. In addition, in the study, because of the management mentality of the state, citizenship practices that shaped in order to establish a relationship with the state and political power are also discussed. In this context, the state-citizen relationship and citizenship practices have been discussed periodically from the Ottoman Empire to the present. In the study, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted. The data obtained from the in-depth interviews were organized by using thematic analysis method. Hereby of semi-structured interviews, it has been seen that the state-citizen relationship in the Republic of Turkey is mostly shaped within the framework of state domination. Besides, it has been concluded that in Turkey, which inherited the management tradition from the patrimonial administration approach, like the Ottoman Empire, the political powers continued the patrimonial administration approach and even evolved into a neo-patrimonial administration approach. Because of patrimonial administration approach, it has been seen that the society is positioned not on the basis of rights and freedoms, but as a structure with duties and responsibilities, and therefore the citizen is not accepted as a subject, obedience is at the forefront and is thought as a mass that needs to be shaped. In addition, due to transcendental management, it has been concluded that non-governmental organizations are dependent on the state and power; therefore, they function as a 'government-organized non-governmental organization'. Patrimonial psychology determined in the study is one of the results of the study in terms of explaining the psychology that the governments adopt in order to maintain their power. Moreover, it is possible to list the citizenship practices as not being able to establish the transition from community to society, adopting the culture of obedience, developing métis consciousness and patriarchal state understanding. Finally, it has been seen that governments use public relations for raising good citizens, instrumentalizing public relations for consolidating the masses, instilling their ideologies and maintaining legitimacy.