Europeanization of turkish subnational administrations

SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH INTERESTS AND QUESTIONS FOR THE THESIS

The essence of this research is to explore the interplay between the process of Europeanization and the mobilisation of SNAs from the applicant states during their accession period. The bulk of the research data for the assessment of the subject matter is derived from the analysis of: official documents; a cross-sectional survey analysis of 85 SNAs; 67 semi-structured interviews with relevant actors in Brussels and in Turkey; and of relevant secondary sources. These are also supplemented by in-depth case studies within three selected cities (Samsun, Diyarbakir and Izmir). By employing mixed method strategies in a single thesis offers wide-ranging approach in terms of its methodology and theoretical assessment to examine the formal and informal effects of Europeanization.

The dependent variable of the research is as follows: subnational mobilisation across the EU arena (the euro-engagement of subnational administrations).

Based on a comparative analysis across cities and organizations, the main inquiry under scrutiny in this research is: How has Europeanization (via regional policy and related financial incentives) produced an impact bringing about mobilisation of Turkish subnational administrations across the EU arena after the Helsinki Summit of 1999?

Empirically, focusing on the EU’s regional policy and its financial instruments, the research aims to reveal many examples of how SNAs have responded to the EU accession process. The research utilizes three different bodies of literature: Europeanization, multi-level governance and the domestic politics approach. In this regard, it first investigates the extent to which Europeanization has changed the dynamics of intergovernmental relations in Turkey (Chapter 6). Secondly, focusing on the subnational level, the research analyses how SNAs have responded to the perceived impact of Europeanization (Chapter 7). Thirdly, whether or not changes have provided opportunity structures for Turkish SNAs in order to mobilize across the EU arena by engaging with horizontal (e.g. transnational links) and vertical channels (e.g., the EU institutions, interregional organizations, and liaison offices in Brussels) (Chapter 8). Finally, concentrating on the selected three cities, the research examines under what conditions Europeanization contributes to the mobilisation efforts of some SNAs. In so doing, it seeks to reveal the importance of potential intermediating factors at subnational level (Chapter 9).

The approach taken here suits a bottom-up perspective on Europeanization, suggesting a new research agenda in Turkish-EU relations. It combines the pull factors of the opportunity structures and voluntary mechanisms and the push factors of resource capabilities (i.e. organizational capacity and leadership) with the domestic intermediating variables (constitutional-legal framework, the historical legacy, regional distinctiveness, the quality of intergovernmental relationship and the pre-existing territorial network).

The research also has some sub-questions to guide its main goal. These are as follows:

1. 
   What kind of changes have Turkish SNAs gone through in order to adapt themselves to the effects of Europeanization?
   
2. 
   Under what conditions do the effects of Europeanization make SNAs mobilize across the EU arena?
   

Overall, the main argument is that the level of subnational mobilisation is mainly determined by specific independent variables (resource pull, resource push and voluntary mechanisms), while it is facilitated and/or restricted by specific intermediating variables at national and subnational levels. The findings suggest a weak pull effect of the EU accompanied by strong gatekeeping of the Turkish national government. As a result, push factors deriving from organizational capacity as well as voluntary mechanisms (learning and lesson-drawing) have played a significant role in the mobilisation of Turkish SNAs across the EU arena. The main finding of this research is therefore close to those scholars who put more emphasis on subnational dynamics rather than national and EU contexts. Yet an assessment of motivation for subnational mobilisation from a domestic perspective (bottom-up) is lacking in extant studies. This research therefore seeks to provide a more accurate account of the nature of subnational mobilisation in Brussels through an analysis of a bottom-up perspective within the context of the Europeanization of Turkish SNAs. The time span considered covers the first programming cycles of pre-accession funds (2000-2006) and the first phase of the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA) (2007-2013).

THE STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS

The thesis consists of eleven chapters including introduction and conclusion. The introduction offers an overall framework for the research; outlines the content, empirical and theoretical rationales of the research and presents the main (and sub-) questions of the research. The introductory part also presents some definitions to provide coherence throughout the research.

The first chapter presents the analytical framework of the thesis. It starts with broadly defining Europeanization in terms of its origin, evolution and usages, and then attempts to find out which usage of Europeanization best understands the subject matter. After defining the analytical framework, the chapter puts the Europeanization research into a Turkish context and concludes with the research implications of the chosen model.

The second chapter presents the main argument of integration theories on the issue of subnational mobilisation in the EU arena and presents multi-level governance and domestic politics approaches, which also inform the theoretical discussion for the research.

The third chapter is the methodology part of the thesis. It outlines the methods in Europeanization literature and elaborates a bottom-up perspective on Europeanization as a research design of the thesis. It finally turns to define the research methodology and research methods: document analysis, cross-sectional survey analysis, semi-structured interviews and in-depth case studies.

The fourth chapter reviews the literature on MLG and its applicability to subnational mobilisation and (functional) territorial interest representations at the EU level. The chapter begins with a brief review of the literature in order to place this study in its proper perspective. The chapter then presents the EU activities of SNAs by giving examples of the channels for SNAs on the EU level. Finally, it proffers the four stages of subnational mobilisation.

The fifth chapter examines the domestic context of SNAs in Turkey to find out whether it constructs necessary opportunity structures for them to mobilize across the EU arena. Therefore, it seeks to understand the scope, nature and evolution of the subnational level in Turkey by introducing its administrative system and legal context, and presenting key historical developments and actors/institutions that are involved in the regional/local governance system in Turkey. It then sheds light on the potential intermediating variables at subnational level and seeks to find out how these variables affect the mobilisation efforts of SNAs.

The sixth chapter turns its attention to the formal and direct effect of Europeanization in Turkey with special reference to regional and structural fund policies. In so doing, the chapter outlines the manner in which EU conditionality on accession helped to shape the regional process, change territorial relations between national and subnational levels and create new opportunity structures for SNAs. This is essential to unveil the impact of the formal realms of Europeanization on Turkish governance. In the final section, the limits for multi-level modality in Turkey are analyzed since these limits are considered as the main obstacles for subnational mobilisation in Brussels.

The seventh chapter presents the empirical findings from the cross-sectional survey analysis to demonstrate the extent to which EU regional policy (via pre-accession funds) has contributed to the changes in internal arrangements of SNAs. The chapter analyses the first two stages of subnational mobilisation: growing awareness and changes in organizational arrangements. It also examines the importance of leadership and shows the types of leadership in Turkish SNAs.

The eighth chapter takes the issue from the internal reorganization of SNAs for dealing with EU matters to their EU-wide activities through horizontal and vertical channels. These are the last two stages of subnational mobilisation. As well as reflecting on the findings from interviews, the chapter continues to report the findings of the survey. It therefore outlines the horizontal activities of SNAs with their opposite numbers in other member or candidate countries and examines vertical mobilisation through EU and non-EU channels.

The ninth chapter explores how subnational intermediating factors play a role during the mobilisation of some selected SNAs from Samsun, Diyarbakir and Izmir. It then analyses the contrasts and similarities among these SNAs in regard to the four stages of subnational mobilisation.

The conclusion summarizes the main argument, answers the research questions, explains the contribution of this thesis to the wider literature and finally makes suggestions for future studies. Overall, the research aims to contribute to the three different literatures, Europeanization, multi-level governance and domestic politics by analyzing the transformation of state with a specific reference to the issue of subnational mobilization. In so doing, it contributes to our empirical and theoretical understandings by ‘bringing the subnational politics’ back in by emphasising region-specific factors in shaping the nature and extent of mobilisation.