Rethinking state and civil society :|two educational policies during the Justice and Development Party era

Abstract

In the early years of the Justice and Development Party regime, educational policymaking was a collaborative and inclusive process with input from civil society organizations (CSOs). In the following years, the state shifted its approach to selective inclusion and refrained from inclusive policymaking. Thus, the state preferred hasty policymaking, in which a limited number of CSOs were included and government-friendly CSOs were supported. Among the many changes in education policies, the difference between the curriculum reform (2003-2005) and the system change (2012) clearly highlight the changing relationship between the state and educational civil society. Analyzing these two policy periods, this thesis tries to determine how and why the relationship between the state and educational civil society changed. In answering these questions, semi-structured interviews with state officials and CSO representatives were conducted and document research was employed. This research claimed that through formal and informal institutional changes, the state altered the power of existing educational institutions. The democratic reversal of the party led to a change in the relationship between educational civil society and the state. The state’s limited capacity in education paved the way for the selective inclusion of CSOs in the policymaking process. Therefore, the state remained open to government-friendly CSOs and built capacity for these organizations to offset its limited capacity.