Introduction

Following its foundation in 1923, Turkey was subject to single-party rule for twenty-two years under the Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (Republican People's Party, CHP). Following pressure from intra-party opposition in 1945, President İsmet İnönü transitioned the politics of the country to a multi-party system. It took another five years before the first free and fair elections of 1950 led to a change in government, giving a decisive victory to the main opposition Demokrat Parti (Democrat Party, DP). As part of CHP's internal opposition, which had split from the ruling party to form the DP, its leading figures Adnan Menderes and Celal Bayar were central to forcing open the doors to multi-party politics, and in doing so, they provided hope for greater liberalisation and ultimately institutionalising democracy. Yet, this was an era that failed to deliver greater political plurality to the country. Developments during the period stood in stark contrast to the progressive steps needed not only for democratic consolidation but also to sustain the new political system. Consequently, after ten years, Turkey's first experience with a competitive system was brought to an end in 1960 with a military intervention.

This chapter demonstrates that the leadership of Menderes and Bayar was a key factor in this outcome. To illustrate this, I begin by outlining Menderes's capture of the Demokrat Parti following Bayar's move to the presidency. Acquiring control of a large parliamentary majority allowed him to amass great political power at the expense of organisational autonomy. Along with this, the close working relationship between Menderes and Bayar enabled the leaders to centralise political power. Through a chronologically unfolding discussion, the proceeding sections outline how this state of affairs was used to embark on a majoritarian strategy to erode already weak democratic institutions, with the aim to consolidate the leaders’ hold on power. The outcomes of this caused an ongoing point of paralysis between government and opposition, became problematic for maintaining the autonomy of state institutions and later spilled into society. Chapter 1 ultimately shows that, although Menderes and Bayar were instrumental in opening the doors to multi-party politics, they largely shaped the unfortunate state of affairs that befell the democratic system, carrying it to its demise in 1960.