Abstract
Liberalization policies implemented in semi-industrial countries are based on a common theoretical framework and embody a standard set of policy instruments. Yet, countries differ widely in terms of their capacity to implement liberalization programs, the extent to which liberalization programs are applied as measured by deviations from “orthodox norms,” and, finally, the degree of success generated. The article proceeds from the premise that the institutional characteristics and the policy environment of a country are of crucial significance in accounting for both the nature of the adjustment process and the subsequent economic performance. The organization of the state and society as well as the degree of centralization of the state constitute key components of the domestic structures that help to illuminate why we observe differential responses to a common external shock, namely, an identical economic strategy. Turkey’s patrimonial state tradition has strongly conditioned and modified the nature of economic liberalization as well as the process of democratic consolidation during the 1980s. This article seeks to elucidate the fundamental paradox concerning the weakness and vulnerability of a highly centralized state which, in turn, embodies negative implications for both economic liberalization and the process of democratic consolidation.
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Additional information
Ziya Önis is an associate professor of economics at Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey. He was a visiting Fulbright Fellow at the Center of International Studies, Princeton University, 1989–1990. His primary field of interest is the political economy of development with special reference to industrialization strategies, macroeconomic management and the role of the state. His papers have recently appeared inComparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, International Journal of Middle East Studies, andJournal of Development Economics.
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Önis, Z. Redemocratization and economic liberalization in Turkey: The limits of state autonomy. Studies in Comparative International Development 27, 3–23 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02687108
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02687108