Like all great men in history, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938) can be viewed in a number of ways: as the founder of a state, a nation-builder, creator of political institutions, a moderniser of his society, an extraordinarily capable political leader, a successful military commander, an educator of his nation, one of the first successful anti-imperialist leaders of the developing world, and a statesman who deeply believed in and contributed to world peace. In this volume Ataturk's role as the founder of a modern state, secular and republican, is emphasised: the creation of a modern state was a pre-requisite for the modernisation o society and economy, and Ataturk's policy of friendship with all nations enabled him to concentrate on his great task of building and consolidating the new Turkish state. Also, it was the intention of the editors to bring out the universal significance of the Kemalist experience and to examine the enduring lessons which other modernising societies can learn from it. Close attention is given to the historical setting from which the Kemalist republic emerged - and the elements of continuity and change between the late Ottoman Empire, particularly in the Young Turk era (1908-18), and the Kemalist republic. Such a historical perspective is specially useful since in works on great historical figures the unique personality traits often overshadow the societal factors. One of the distinguishing features of the Kemalist revolution in the Islamic world is the emphasis on secularism: Turkey remains today the only Islamic country where it is one of the basic constitutional principles, and the legal system is completely secularised. Ataturk died in the prime of life, but he remains one of the towering figures of the twentieth century and exceptionally among the political leaders of the interwar years, his reputation has not suffered with the passing of time.

This is the latest in the At the Polls series, in which Duke University Press has joined with the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research to publish studies on the electoral process as it functions around the world. Cited by Choice for its "high standard of scholarly analysis and objectivity," the series provides both a chronicle of events and a thorough analysis of the election results.

Product Description: Since 1945, Turkey has witnessed no fewer than three breakdowns of the democratic process (1960, 1971 and 1980) and three retransitions to democracy (1961, 1973 and 1983). In this text, the author analyzes 50 years of Turkish politics and provides a theoretical and comparative perspective...read more

Product Description: Explores and illustrates how domestic and international factors shape the direction of democratization process with special reference to the constitution making process in the Turkish context.

Product Description: Starting with the historical development of constitutional government in Turkey, the author analyzes the basic characteristics of the present Turkish Constitution (that of 1982), the fundamental structure of the state (the legislature, executive, and the judiciary), the special role of the Constitutional Court, and the recent efforts at democratizing constitutional reforms...read more

Scholars have long argued that political participation tends to increase with economic and social modernization. In this study of Turkey, however, the author shows that rapid socio-economic growth has coincided with a substantial decline in turnout at the polls. His ecological analysis of subnational aggregate voting data for the sixties and the explanation of his startling findings form the core of this up-to-date and comprehensive survey of Turkey's political development. Turkey is one of very few countries to combine rapid socio-economic change with a democratic system. The author demonstrates that in this context modernization tends to increase autonomous, instrumental, and class-based political participation, and to decrease mobilized, deferential, and communal-based political participation. The topics he examines include: social cleavages and the party system; distribution of land and income; geographical and social mobility; access to education; regional variations in voting turnout; urban-rural differences in voting behavior; socio-economic correlates of voting activity and party votes; and patterns of participation among peasants and the urban poor. Originally published in 1977. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.