Game Changer: Socioeconomic Transformation and Emergence of the JDP in 2002

This chapter brings to the surface an angle previous research on Turkish political parties has neglected: socioeconomic transformation. The analysis highlights how the adopted economic models shape the changes in socioeconomic structures and how parties have responded by developing a new set of policies that fit the demands of their constituencies. The chapter demonstrates that the economic decisions of 1980 have led to an emergence of intermediary stratum, which in return created demand for a political party such as the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, JDP) in 2002. It also adds institutional factors to the discussion and demonstrates how the JDP reshuffled itself as a mainstream party rather than an Islamist one.