Abstract:

This paper attempts to explore whether there are any peculiarities of local politics on local elections in the case of Turkey's 2009 local elections. The study focuses on the analyses of voting behavior in local elections, which is received less interest among the social scientists. The study questions the hypotheses, such as 'local elections are carried out under the shadow of national/politics', 'voters are oriented towards the ruling party in the local elections' and 'to some extent mayoral candidates have effects on voting behavior in the local elections'. In this regard, the council ballot boxes in the 2009 local elections are equated with municipal boxes in the elections through the four types of municipalities, such as metropolitan, city, provincial and community. After the equation the effects of the mayoral candidates on voting behavior will be analyzed. The study also utilizes a field research carried in Mersin after the elections as a secondary variable.

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