Paths to Power: The Making of Cabinet Ministers in Turkey

Abstract

This article examines the trends in the political and social pathways to the cabinet in the modern Turkish Republic. It intends to fill the lacunae in the literature on Turkey's cabinets and ministerial elites in several respects. First, it examines the cabinets and the changes and/or continuities in their composition from 1923 until 2009, a period which has not been covered in its entirety by previous research. Second, it provides data and analysis on the social background and recruitment patterns of prime ministers and cabinet members in the governments. Third, it focuses on the impact of regime changes and democratic transitions on the continuities and changes in the composition of the ministerial elites. Fourth, it locates the Turkish case within the wider comparative framework of studies on ministerial elites, particularly the findings of research on Southern Europe. The main argument of the article is that the aggregated profiles of the cabinets have displayed significant changes, along with some notable continuities, since the establishment of the Republic.