| Summary/Abstract |
The Turkish party law (TPL) has thus far been studied only in isolation. We do not have any knowledge of where it stands compared to other party laws. This study fills this gap by comparing the TPL with other European party laws. It codes the TPL according to the categories of party regulation that exists in the current literature and finds that the TPL is the third-most heavily regulated party law in Europe. While it is particularly keen on regulating the ‘activity and behavior’ and ‘programmatic identity’ of parties similar to Ukrainian and Spanish party laws, it is significantly behind in regulating the ‘party finance’ and ‘external oversight’ compared to other European countries. This article discusses the implications of these findings on contemporary Turkish politics, arguing that the TPL's thick definition of an ‘anti-system party’ contributes to the current democratic recession in Turkey.
|