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2019 | Buch

The Political Economies of Turkey and Greece

Crisis and Change

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The economic policies of reactive states such as Turkey and Greece, both of which have shown limited ability to implement institutional reforms in recent years, have paved the way for deep crises. The crises are devastating for both societies’ social fabric, but they also open up the opportunity to introduce new economic regimes. They do, however, not always invite changes in dominant paradigms. Despite weak state capacity and deep economic crisis in both cases, substantial reforms were initiated in Turkey whilst an opposite trend prevailed in Greece. Drawing on field research, this book develops a political economy framework that explains reform cycles and post-crisis outcomes in reactive states.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Introduction
Abstract
Kutlay addresses two interrelated research questions: What are the dynamics of reform cycles in reactive states? When and how economic crises lead to paradigmatic reforms? The chapter makes an introduction to the political economy of contemporary Turkey and Greece to address these questions. The comparison of the Turkish and Greek cases poses interesting puzzles in addressing these main research questions. Despite weak state capacity in both cases and despite deep economic crises hit two countries, paradigmatic changes were initiated in Turkey, while an opposite trend prevailed in Greece. The chapter also introduces the logic of case selection and outlines the organization of chapters.
Mustafa Kutlay
Chapter 2. Reforming the Reactive States: A Framework for Analysis
Abstract
Kutlay develops a conceptual framework that explains persistence and change in reactive states. The chapter offers a much-needed reconceptualization of “state capacity” to make the term operationalizable. Kutlay argues that reform outcomes are the products of complex interplay between agents and institutional structures. Having relied on state capacity, critical junctures, and policy entrepreneurship literatures, the chapter proposes a three-stage framework that tries to capture this intricacy. The conceptual framework reveals why implementing economic reforms are so difficult in reactive states and explores when and how crises alter this recalcitrant path dependence. Kutlay offers crisis narrative approach as an organizing concept of the three-stage framework.
Mustafa Kutlay
Chapter 3. Political Economy of Turkey (1980–2001)
Abstract
The chapter deals with the institutionalization of a reactive Turkish state in a neoliberal setting between 1980 and 2001. Kutlay argues that post-liberalization process in Turkey was accompanied by gradual deterioration of state capacity. Thus economic and political opportunities, which were structured by the state, led to self-reinforcing processes for the entrenchment of clientelistic policy coalitions. The chapter also discusses that Turkey’s integration into vagaries of financial globalization without robust institutional regulatory mechanisms also aggravated fiscal problems. The Ponzi-cum-funding-opportunities enabled policy-makers to postpone necessary reforms so that Turkey faced an early test in 1994. The economic crisis, however, argues Kutlay, did not invite a new paradigm in Turkish political economy. Status quo ante was reproduced because (a) crisis was not deep enough to deteriorate the legitimacy of predominant paradigms and disturb the existing mode of state-market relations, and (b) agency and institutional-level dynamics were unfavorable to initiate substantial reforms.
Mustafa Kutlay
Chapter 4. Turkish Crisis and Aftermath (2001–2016)
Abstract
The chapter sets out to explore the dynamics of change in Turkish political economy following the 2001 crisis. The February 2001 turmoil was a critical juncture for Turkey as it put the socio-political and economic life into severe disarray. Despite its long-lasting hazardous impacts, the crisis opened up an opportunity window to reform the deeply flawed economic regime of the reactive Turkish state. The depth of the crisis disturbed power balances and denounced well-entrenched rent-seeking coalitions. It, therefore, created room for reformist state agents to step through in, which was capitalized on to a significant extent. In the economic realm, regulatory state as a new paradigm was introduced. Based on the three-stage framework, Kutlay argues that crisis did invite a paradigmatic change due to the emergence of a dominant crisis narrative along domestic-external nexus. The chapter also offers an account as to why Turkey experienced major setbacks in economic and political realms in the post-2011.
Mustafa Kutlay
Chapter 5. Political Economy of Greece (1974–2009)
Abstract
The chapter discusses the consolidation of a reactive state in post-authoritarian Greece. Kutlay argues that weakening capacity of the Greek state was informed through path-dependent interactions between agents and institutional structures along domestic-international nexus. The chapter also examines the reform performance of Kostas Simitis, who tried to launch a new policy path for Greece in mid-1990s. Kutlay argues that Simitis could achieve limited success due to the fact that the EU factor failed to play a genuine trigger role in instigating a virtuous cycle of reform activism and the political parties, trade unions, and business associations did not support the narrative Simitis adopted to initiate new set of economic reforms. The chapter also analyzes the accumulation of economic problems during Karamanlis governments with reference to the structure of the monetary union and financialization of Greek economy.
Mustafa Kutlay
Chapter 6. Greek Crisis and Aftermath (2009–2016)
Abstract
The 2009 Greek economic crisis endured deep social, political, and economic pains. Kutlay, in this chapter, argues that the crisis also provided historical opportunity to restructure inefficient state institutions and introduce a new economic regime. The IMF and the EU involved in the design of the reform programs with an unmatched level of bargaining leverage. Despite the presence of a single party government and strong external anchors, Greece decisively plunged into a deadlock in which multi-level blame games have dominated the post-crisis policy-making agenda. Why crisis did not lead to the creation of new winning coalitions and give leeway to a reform-oriented paradigm change? Kutlay offers a political economy account of the Greek crisis and its aftermath to address this question.
Mustafa Kutlay
Chapter 7. Toward a Comparative Political Economy of Reactive States
Abstract
Kutlay offers a comparative analysis of the Turkish and Greek cases with particular reference to three-stage framework. Chapter 7 lays out the main findings of the present book. Accordingly, in-depth analysis of four episodes in two reactive states puts the parts of the conceptual framework together. Main findings advance the debate on reform dynamics in reactive states, on the centrality of crisis narratives approach in explaining the divergence of post-crisis outcomes, and on the role of policy entrepreneurs in instigating paradigmatic changes in the aftermath of economic crises.
Mustafa Kutlay
Chapter 8. Conclusion
Abstract
Kutlay argues that paradigmatic reforms are the outcomes of complex interactions of a set of factors. A fragile joining up of agency-level and institutional factors makes reform processes intricate, contingent, and context dependent. The chapter revisits the Turkish and Greek political economies and makes the case that the comparative analysis of these two cases is still under-studied in the literature. The concluding chapter also compares three-stage conceptual framework with some major explanations and offer three main propositions. The chapter also discusses avenues for future research that concerns southern European model of capitalism.
Mustafa Kutlay
Backmatter
Metadaten
Titel
The Political Economies of Turkey and Greece
verfasst von
Dr. Mustafa Kutlay
Copyright-Jahr
2019
Electronic ISBN
978-3-319-92789-3
Print ISBN
978-3-319-92788-6
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92789-3