The biggest paradox of modern politics in Turkey is that in a climate of such high social polarization, the “capacity to produce politics” in the real sense of the word is gradually declining.
Instead of being bridges that transform social demands into rational policies, political parties have turned into closed circuit structures focused on preserving or seizing power. This transformation paralyzes the most vital organs of liberal democracy.
1-Loss of the Capacity to Produce Politics and the “Leader's Sultanate” :
The law on political parties and the existing political culture in Turkey have reduced parties from platforms for the competition of ideas to hierarchical organizations that function on the basis of loyalty to the leader.
This situation;
It creates intellectual sterility. The absence of intra-party democracy leads to the exclusion of meritorious cadres and hence the inability to produce original policies to address complex economic and social problems.
For reactionary politics, instead of presenting a strategic vision, parties exist on the basis of daily polemics and reactions to the opponent's moves.
2- Libertarian Democracy was “partisan” liquidated. However, democracy is not only about the ballot box; it is also about checks and balances, independence of the judiciary and protection of minority rights. However, political parties in Turkey see these mechanisms as “obstacles to politics”.
We watched as institutions were hollowed out.
Institutions of the state that should be impartial have been instrumentalized for partisan interests. This has led to the rule of law being replaced by the “law of the powerful”.
The perception that politics can only be done through parties has weakened the social base of libertarian democracy by narrowing civil society and autonomous spaces.
3-Techno-Feudalism and the New Frontiers of Politics:
The concepts of techno-feudalism and surveillance capitalism, which I have emphasized in my previous articles, are directly related to the political erosion in Turkey. Traditional politics has been squeezed to the scale of the “nation-state” under the domination of global capital and technological giants.
Instead of reading these new forms of hegemony and building a democratic line of resistance against it, political parties in Turkey prefer to use algorithm-based populism, social media manipulations and digital surveillance tools to eliminate their political opponents. This feeds the risk of democracy evolving into “digital autocracy”.
4-Conclusion:
The need for a new political subject,
The restoration of liberal democracy in Turkey depends on a redefinition of politics rather than an internal reform of existing parties.
Politics needs a new mind that focuses on labor, nature and human dignity against the domination of capital and technology, and that derives its institutional identity from principles, not leaders.
Otherwise, this process of “depoliticization” carried out by the parties will continue to erode not only democracy but also the will of society to live together.