"Yes” or “no”: An analysis of the 2010 referendum in Turkey

Abstract

Referendums are used as last-ditch devices to resolve issues in certain contexts. This was the case in Turkey, as the current Justice and Development Party government decided to hold a constitutional referendum on September 12, 2010 to amend the current Constitution of 1982, ratified by the military junta of 1980- 1983. At the end, 58% of the voters voted “Yes”, as opposed to 42% of “No” votes. However, despite its enormous political and social impact, the subject remains under-researched and in need of explanation. This study gives a snapshot and evaluation of the 2010 referendum campaign according to relevant theories of psychology and political science. Accordingly, this study denotes eleven interrelated factors of crucial importance in similar referendums and discusses their representation in the context of referendum, thus, contributes to the literature in terms of explaining both psychological and political factors in the referendums.

Keywords

• referendum
• Turkey
• case study
• psychology
• democracy