THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD IN TURKEY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AUTHORITY AND LEGITIMACY

Hidayet Değer

Article Details

THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD IN TURKEY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AUTHORITY AND LEGITIMACY

Authors:

Hidayet Değer

Publisher:

Dicle University

Main Topics:

Siyasal Teori ve Siyaset Felsefesi | Türk Siyasal Hayatı

Journal:

Dicle Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.14 Issue 27, pp.491-510

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

5/2024

Document Language:

Turkish

Document ID (Org No.):

2001314347

pISSN:

1309-4602

Keywords:

Abstract:

 The question of where political power derives its legitimacy from brings us face to face with the question of what authority is. Political legitimacy, which was mostly based on transcendental elements such as religion in the pre-modern period, was replaced by the people-nation in the modern period. The replacement of the transcendent normative foundations of the state initiated by Machiavelli with the immanent, the anthropocentricity of humanism, the enlightenments putting reason and science, and thus the more concrete and worldly at the centre, can of course be presented as the basic parameters of the change in legitimacy and authority. As a matter of fact, revolutions and subsequently nation states can be seen as the embodiment of this change. However, the fact that legitimacy is also based on the governed corresponds to a self-evaluated understanding of authority. This situation constitutes the basic thesis of the debate on the authority vacuum in the modern state. Theses in the context of democracy, such as the representative nature of democracy and the continuing distinction between the ruler and the ruled, and Marxist theses that problematise the authority and the state itself are reminiscent of the crisis of legitimacy. However, the crisis in question here problematises the concentration of legitimacy and authority in the same thing-place. In this context, the study is based on Arendts thesis on the crisis of the merging of legitimacy and authority in the citizen-nation and that nation-states cannot give up the transcendent in order to overcome the crisis. The article analyses the fate of the legitimacy of the new state and the establishment of authority with the establishment of the Parliament in Turkey.

 The question of where political power derives its legitimacy from brings us face to face with the question of what authority is. Political legitimacy, which was mostly based on transcendental elements such as religion in the pre-modern period, was replaced by the people-nation in the modern period. The replacement of the transcendent normative foundations of the state initiated by Machiavelli with the immanent, the anthropocentricity of humanism, the enlightenments putting reason and science, and thus the more concrete and worldly at the centre, can of course be presented as the basic parameters of the change in legitimacy and authority. As a matter of fact, revolutions and subsequently nation states can be seen as the embodiment of this change. However, the fact that legitimacy is also based on the governed corresponds to a self-evaluated understanding of authority. This situation constitutes the basic thesis of the debate on the authority vacuum in the modern state. Theses in the context of democracy, such as the representative nature of democracy and the continuing distinction between the ruler and the ruled, and Marxist theses that problematise the authority and the state itself are reminiscent of the crisis of legitimacy. However, the crisis in question here problematises the concentration of legitimacy and authority in the same thing-place. In this context, the study is based on Arendts thesis on the crisis of the merging of legitimacy and authority in the citizen-nation and that nation-states cannot give up the transcendent in order to overcome the crisis. The article analyses the fate of the legitimacy of the new state and the establishment of authority with the establishment of the Parliament in Turkey.

 The question of where political power derives its legitimacy from brings us face to face with the question of what authority is. Political legitimacy, which was mostly based on transcendental elements such as religion in the pre-modern period, was replaced by the people-nation in the modern period. The replacement of the transcendent normative foundations of the state initiated by Machiavelli with the immanent, the anthropocentricity of humanism, the enlightenments putting reason and science, and thus the more concrete and worldly at the centre, can of course be presented as the basic parameters of the change in legitimacy and authority. As a matter of fact, revolutions and subsequently nation states can be seen as the embodiment of this change. However, the fact that legitimacy is also based on the governed corresponds to a self-evaluated understanding of authority. This situation constitutes the basic thesis of the debate on the authority vacuum in the modern state. Theses in the context of democracy, such as the representative nature of democracy and the continuing distinction between the ruler and the ruled, and Marxist theses that problematise the authority and the state itself are reminiscent of the crisis of legitimacy. However, the crisis in question here problematises the concentration of legitimacy and authority in the same thing-place. In this context, the study is based on Arendts thesis on the crisis of the merging of legitimacy and authority in the citizen-nation and that nation-states cannot give up the transcendent in order to overcome the crisis. The article analyses the fate of the legitimacy of the new state and the establishment of authority with the establishment of the Parliament in Turkey.

 Siyasal iktidarın meşruiyetini nereden aldığı sorusu bir anlamda bizi otoritenin ne olduğu sorusu ile karşı karşıya getirmektedir. Modern öncesi dönemde çoğunlukla din gibi aşkın öğelere dayandırılan siyasal meşruiyet, modern dönemde yerini halk-ulusa bırakmıştır. Machiavelli ile başlatılan devletin aşkın normatif dayanaklarının yerini içkin olana bırakması, hümanizmin insan merkezliliği, aydınlanmanın aklı ve bilimi dolayısıyla daha somut ve dünyevi olanı merkeze koyması elbette meşruiyet ve otorite değişiminin temel parametreleri olarak sunulabilir. Nitekim devrimler ve akabinde ulus devletler bu değişimin tecessüm etmiş hali olarak görülebilir. Bununla birlikte meşruiyetin de yönetilenlere dayandırılması, kıymeti kendinden menkul bir otorite anlayışına tekabül etmektedir. Bu durum, modern devlette otorite boşluğu tartışmasının temel tezini oluşturmaktadır. Demokrasinin temsili olması, yöneten yönetilen ayrımının devam ediyor olması gibi demokrasi bağlamında tezler ile otoritenin ve devletin bizatihi kendisini sorunsallaştıran Marksist tezler meşruiyet krizini anımsatmaktadır. Ancak burada sözü edilen kriz, meşruiyet ve otoritenin aynı şeyde-yerde toplanmasını sorunsallaştırmaktadır. Bu bağlamda, çalışma Arendtin meşruiyet ve otoritenin vatandaşta-ulusta birleşmesi krizi ve krizi aşmak için ulus devletlerin aşkın olandan vazgeçemediği tezine dayanmaktadır. Makalede Türkiyede Meclisin kurulmasıyla yeni devletin meşruiyetinin akıbeti ve otoritenin tesisi incelenecektir.

Article Details

THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD IN TURKEY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AUTHORITY AND LEGITIMACY

Authors:

Hidayet Değer

Publisher:

Dicle University

Main Topics:

Siyasal Teori ve Siyaset Felsefesi | Türk Siyasal Hayatı

Journal:

Dicle Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.14 Issue 27, pp.491-510

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

5/2024

Document Language:

Turkish

Document ID (Org No.):

2001314347

pISSN:

1309-4602

Legitimacy

Authority

Transcendence

Legitimacy Crisis

Authority VacuumMeşruiyet

Otorite

Aşkınlık

Meşruiyet Krizi

Otorite Boşluğu

Issues

Article Details

Authors: Hidayet Değer

Publisher: Dicle University

Main Topics: Siyasal Teori ve Siyaset Felsefesi | Türk Siyasal Hayatı

Journal: Dicle Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.14 Issue 27, pp.491-510

Document Type: Article

Publication Date: 5/2024

Document Language: Turkish

Document ID (Org No.): 2001314347

pISSN: 1309-4602

Issues

Authors:

Hidayet Değer

Publisher:

Dicle University

Main Topics:

Siyasal Teori ve Siyaset Felsefesi | Türk Siyasal Hayatı

Journal:

Dicle Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.14 Issue 27, pp.491-510

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

5/2024

Document Language:

Turkish

Document ID (Org No.):

2001314347

pISSN:

1309-4602