Europeanization and the dilemma of decentralization: centre-local relations in Turkey.

The article discusses local government in Europe and Turkey, the European Union (EU) pattern of decentralization in government, and Turkey's halting moves to mimic that as a precursor to EU membership. Topics discussed include: Europeanization, the process whereby EU candidates adapt their institutions and administrative cultures to more closely resemble those of EU member states; the historic association in Europe of decentralized government with greater democracy; the history in Turkey of a unitary central government, and the consequent resistance to decentralization among some political elites.