The Effect of politics on urban administration in Turkey

ABSTRACT This thesis, The Effect of Politics on Urban Administration in Turkey", deals with the municipalities subject both to the Municipalities Act ( No: 1580) and to the Greater Municipalities Act (No:3030). It is clear that the public services assigned to the urban administration in Turkey cannot perform their duties properly. The basic reason for this lies in the reality that the local government system has not been restructured according to democratic principles, and "the centralist" character of the administrative system and its shortcomings do not help improve "locality". One of the most significant problems of the urban administration in delivering public services is caused by organisational structures. Democratic deficiencies in the structure of the organs, namely Chairperson, Council and Board are important factors. After examining the Turkish urban administration in terms of system approach, the thesis studies the "actors" in the policy-making process of this administration. The actors of the urban administration-politics duality are assessed as central administration, political parties, pressure groups and certain international institutions. In order to protect urban administrations from the adverse effects of these actors in the policy-making and implementation processes, there is a strong case to strenghten their structures; especially in the aspects of administrative and financal autonomies. The basic aim of this thesis is to find out the main problems in the context of this strong structuring of the urban administration, and to establish a theorical frame which has the vision shed light on the ongoing studies in Turkey regarding the reform in local governments. VT