The extant literature on modern Turkish politics offers a mixed perspective on the Democrat Party (DP) period and the 1950s. The foundational literature extolls the DP era as a period of democratization which ended with a military coup, while the recent literature disputes this view. Based on new research, this article aims to provide conceptual clarity by establishing the DP period as the first example of competitive authoritarianism in Turkey. This re-articulation of the Turkish center right's foundational moment provides a novel perspective on the DP era and the beginnings of multi-party period in Turkey.
Suleyman Gokce (Mon,) studied this question.