Are We There Yet? Spiral Model: Human Rights Institutions-State-EU Relations in Turkey

Abstract

Boomerang and spiral models, explaining the ways in which domestic actors form transnational networks with international organizations in order to change the repressive policies of their states, argue that these international interactions are effective in the implementation and internalization of international human rights norms. In the Turkish case, although the EU accession process gave way to foundation of human rights institutions, and new laws were enacted, we observe that the institutions are organized and they function ineffectively, and the laws can be overturned through practices. These examples show that despite their predictions, the boomerang model can run in reverse, the spiral model does not run in its gradual course. A comparative look at the Turkish case also shows that the models' main weakness is not only that they lack a more comprehensive look at how the international and domestic interact but also they need a better look at the internal dynamics of the international organizations that are the networking partners.