The decline of the center right parties in Turkey in the 1990s: value change or resentment

Abstract

The center right parties in Turkey have gradually lost support throughout the 1990s. This decline is accompanied by the rise of electoral support for extreme right parties. There are broadly two main arguments that attempt to explain this trend. The first one argues that rise in religiosity and conservative values are the main source of decline of the center right parties. The other thesis put forward the resentment of the electorate for the center right parties have been channeled to extreme right parties as protest votes. Nevertheless, the analysis of the World Value Surveys conducted in 1991, 1996 and 2001 as well as the European Values Survey of 2001 suggests that the loss of support for the center right does not necessarily stem from rise in religious sentiments and conservative values. On the contrary, the voter profiles of these parties follow the trends of value changes of Turkish public in general. On the other hand, the existence of an ever-growing group of people who place themselves at the center of the left right spectrum but are among the most discontented of all is remarkable. These findings suggest that flight from center right might in fact be created by the voters who remain at the center but show high levels of dissatisfaction and resentment