Constitutional development of social policy in Turkey

Constitutional Development of Social Policy in Turkey Social policy, which develops depending on the economic, political and social course of societies, is subject to constitutional regulations with the effect of social demands and movements. The fact that the constitutional regulations play a leading role in the legal structure of social policy has also affected Turkey's social policy history. Social policy is a discipline that deals with the state and legal order oriented studies in the face of movements and struggles that have sprouted in the axis of capital-labor relationship and turned into social problems. The fact that social policy has a fixed normative reality alongside with the constitution, which is the highest regulatory norm, is an important breakthrough in terms of its institutionalization. In this context, the existence of possible problems about how the main-legal regulations, which are the reference point in drawing the conceptual framework of social policy, are the focus of this study. The aim of this study is to reveal the development and dimensions of the historical process of social policy, taking into account the constitutional developments and regulations in the Turkish constitutional history. The research technique of this study is the qualitative research method. Books, articles, theses and other publications focused on the history of social policy, the history of the constitution, social rights, social justice and the social state of law were scanned. As a result of this scanning, the lack of sufficient research on the relationship between social policy and the constitution, especially in the national literature, has emerged as an important deficiency. For this reason, it is thought that the study will contribute to this important gap in the literature on the relationship between social policy and constitution. The universe of this study; Social policy in the 1921, 1924, 1961 and 1982 constitutions, including the constitutional developments in the last period of the Ottoman Empire; social justice, social state of law, social rights concepts and other relevant provisions. With the study, it was understood that the size and effect of social policy on the constitutions in the OttomanTurkish constitutional developments had the most effective position with the 1961 Constitution, while this effect regressed with the socioeconomic conditions of the period in the 1982 Constitution. Social policy, which is recognized as constitutional in many countries of the world as it is in Turkey, has become more important constitutionally with each passing day by serving humanity's search for social justice. Key Words: constitution, social justice, social state, social rights, social policy