Globalization, Public Opinion, and Policymaking in Turkey
IDE Research Bulletin
March 2019
PDF (240KB)
Recently, economic globalization (trade liberalization and capital account liberalization) has affected not only the national economies of developing countries but also their political structures. Turkey shifted its development strategy during the 1980s from import substitution industrialization under a state-led economy to export-led industrialization under a market economy. The latter strategy was most strongly accelerated by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government that came to power in 2002. The ratio of trade to GDP increased from 30% in the 1980s to 50% in the 2000s, while the ratio of foreign direct investment inflows to GDP grew from 25% to 180% during the same period.
How have the public and interest groups responded to globalization? In addition, since 2011 Turkey has experienced an influx of nearly four million Syrian refugees, which brings into focus the question of the societal response to global immigration. This research examined (1) individual- and country-level determinants of public support for free trade in developing countries, (2) who supports free trade in Turkey and their reasons why, (3) who supports the refugee policy in Turkey, and (4) the role of globalist business associations in foreign policy making. Four papers that addressed these questions are summarized below.