Unfair play: Central government spending under Turkey’s AK Party

On June 24, Turkey will go to early presidential and parliamentary polls. The snap elections come amidst significant macroeconomic turmoil. In May, inflation climbed more than 12 percent on an annual basis, while the Turkish lira has lost almost 20 percent against the dollar and the euro since the start of the year. International analysts such as Moody’s are significantly reconsidering growth rates forecasts. This macroeconomic deterioration follows a general slide in the quality of the country’s economic and political institutions.

As fears persist over the strength of Turkey’s economy, what can be said about how the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has managed public resources since its arrival into power in 2002? Do patterns of government spending reflect development or economic needs or do political priorities largely dictate how budgets are allocated?

In a recent paper, we explore distributive politics under the tenure of the Justice and AKP in Turkey, aiming to assess how the ruling party has deployed public monies toward distinct developmental and political ends. Our results indicate that the AKP in Turkey has systematically allocated public monies to provinces for particular strategic reasons—and not merely to address socioeconomic concerns.

The full text of this article is available at the Brookings website, via the link below.