Üniversite gençliğinin otoriteye yönelik tutumları: Ankara ve İstanbul'un önde gelen üniversitelerinde karşılaştırmalı bir çalışma

The basic question to be answered in this thesis is: To what extent the two characteristics of Turkish political culture- preference for strong political leaders and the exaltation of state- is prevalent among senior students of Political Science and Public Administration, and International Relations Departments? Since the figures of political leaders and state are the symbols of the authority, the thesis in fact aims at revealing the attitudes of these students towards authority. Well functioning of a democracy is based on a certain relationship between the authority and the citizenry. Articulation of such a relationship with the state calls for an effective oppositional and critical political practice on the side of the citizenry. Contrary to the exaltation of state and political leaders, authority figures should be considered at certain distance for control and balancing purposes. These students' attitudes towards authority are significantly important since as the graduates of these departments, they will occupy iiicentral positions for the country in various state and private institutions. To answer the thesis question, a survey was conducted of almost four hundred senior students studying in these departments of major universities in Ankara and Istanbul. The theoretical foundations are the studies of political culture, Turkish political culture, value change and political socialization. The survey findings are compared with the same survey conducted in 1994. Accordingly, we find that senior students of these departments exhibit these characteristics of Turkish political culture with an upward trend in preference for strong political leaders and a downward in exaltation of state traits. Key words: University students, authoritarian attitudes, exaltation of state, preference for strong political leaders, Turkish political culture IV