SavedAdd your journal

Journals / JOEEP: Journal of Emerging Economies and Policy / 2026 / Cilt: 11 Sayı: 1

Democracy and Economic Performance in Türkiye: An Empirical Assessment

Türkiye Örneğinde Demokrasi ve Ekonomik Performans: Ampirik Bir Değerlendirme

Tayyibe Karagöz(İSTANBUL BEYKENT ÜNİVERSİTESİ)0009-0006-2672-1975
Deniz Giz(İstanbul Üniversitesi)0000-0003-4560-7597
Pages
269–279
Publication Date
2026-06-25
DOI
—
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

The results indicate that strengthening democratic institutions supports economic performance.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:The relationship between democracy and economic growth is one of the main areas of discussion in the political economy literature.
📊
Key Findings & Data:This study examines the relationship between democracy and economic growth in Turkey using annual data for the period 1980–2021.
💡
Conclusion & Impact:The results indicate that strengthening democratic institutions supports economic performance.
🔬Design:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Scope:2021 Verileri
⚙️Variables:Demokrasi · Ekonomik Büyüme · Türkiye

Abstract

The relationship between democracy and economic growth is one of the main areas of discussion in the political economy literature. This study examines the relationship between democracy and economic growth in Turkey using annual data for the period 1980–2021. The study contributes to the Turkish literature by measuring the level of democracy with the V-Dem liberal democracy index and evaluating its short- and long-term dynamics together. Economic growth was represented by the real per capita income series based on 2015 prices, and public expenditure, fixed capital formation, and trade openness were included as control variables. The ARDL bounds testing approach was employed given that the variables exhibit different orders of integration. The findings show that there is a long-term cointegration relationship between the variables. While democracy and fixed capital formation affected economic growth positively and significantly, public expenditures and trade openness were found to be negative and significant. The results indicate that strengthening democratic institutions supports economic performance.

Özet

Demokrasi ile ekonomik büyüme arasındaki ilişki, siyasal iktisat literatürünün temel tartışma alanlarından biridir. Bu çalışma, Türkiye’de demokrasi ile ekonomik büyüme arasındaki ilişkiyi 1980–2021 dönemine ait yıllık veriler kullanarak incelemektedir. Çalışma, demokrasi düzeyini V-Dem liberal demokrasi endeksiyle ölçerek ve kısa ile uzun dönem dinamiklerini birlikte değerlendirerek Türkiye literatürüne katkı sunmaktadır. Ekonomik büyüme 2015 bazlı kişi başına reel gelir serisiyle temsil edilmiş, modele kamu harcamaları, sabit sermaye oluşumu ve ticari açıklık değişkenleri dâhil edilmiştir. Değişkenlerin farklı bütünleşme derecelerine sahip olması nedeniyle ARDL sınır testi uygulanmıştır. Bulgular, değişkenler arasında uzun dönemli bir eşbütünleşme ilişkisinin bulunduğunu göstermektedir. Demokrasi ve sabit sermaye oluşumu ekonomik büyümeyi pozitif ve anlamlı etkilerken, kamu harcamaları ile ticari açıklık negatif ve anlamlı bulunmuştur. Sonuçlar, demokratik kurumların güçlenmesinin ekonomik performansı desteklediğine işaret etmektedir.

🔖

Cite This Article

Karagöz, T., Giz, D. (2026). Democracy and Economic Performance in Türkiye: An Empirical Assessment. JOEEP: Journal of Emerging Economies and Policy, Cilt: 11 Sayı: 1, 269–279. https://ajindex.com/articles/1504073

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

📄

PDF görüntüleyici hazırlanıyor...

References (43)

  1. Acemoglu, D., Naidu, S., Restrepo, P., & Robinson, J. A. (2019). Democracy does cause growth. Journal of Political Economy, 127(1), 47–100. https://doi.org/10.1086/700936
  2. Akel, V., & Gazel, S. (2015). Döviz kurları ile BIST sanayi endeksi arasındaki eşbütünleşme ilişkisi: Bir ARDL sınır testi yaklaşımı. Erciyes Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 44, 23–41. https://doi.org/10.18070/euiibfd.57171
  3. Alesina, A., & Perotti, R. (1994). The political economy of growth: A critical survey of the recent literature. The World Bank Economic Review, 8(3), 351–371. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/8.3.351
  4. Banerjee, A., Dolado, J. J., & Mestre, R. (1998). Error-correction mechanism tests for cointegration in a single-equation framework. Journal of Time Series Analysis, 19(3), 267–283. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9892.00091
  5. Barış, S., & Erdoğmuş, M. (2018). 21. yüzyılda demokrasi ve ekonomik büyüme ilişkisi: Bir literatür incelemesi. Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi Vizyoner Dergisi, 9, 83–102.
  6. Barro, R. J. (1996). Democracy and growth. Journal of Economic Growth, 1(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00163340
  7. Beetham, D. (2014). Democracy: A beginner's guide. Oneworld Publications.
  8. Beşkaya, A., & Manan, Ö. (2009). Ekonomik özgürlükler ve demokrasi ile ekonomik performans arasındaki ilişkinin zaman serileri ile analizi: Türkiye örneği. ZKÜ Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 5(10), 47–76.
  9. Bollen, K. (1993). Liberal democracy: Validity and method factors in cross-national measures. American Journal of Political Science, 37(4), 1207–1230. https://doi.org/10.2307/2111550
  10. Brown, R. L., Durbin, J., & Evans, J. M. (1975). Techniques for testing the constancy of regression relationships over time. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B (Methodological), 37(2), 149–192. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2517-6161.1975.tb01532.x
  11. Cohen, Y. (1985). The impact of bureaucratic-authoritarian rule on economic growth. Comparative Political Studies, 18(1), 123-136. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414085018001006
  12. Coppedge, M., Gerring, J., Altman, D., Bernhard, M., Fish, S., Hicken, A., Kroenig, M., Lindberg, S. I., McMann, K., Paxton, P., Semetko, H. A., Skaaning, S.-E., Staton, J., & Teorell, J. (2011). Conceptualizing and measuring democracy: A new approach. Perspectives on Politics, 9(2), 247–267. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592711000880
  13. De Haan, J., & Siermann, C. L. J. (1996). New evidence on the relationship between democracy and economic growth. Public Choice, 86(1–2), 175–198. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00114881
  14. Dick, G. W. (1974). Authoritarian versus nonauthoritarian approaches to economic development. Journal of Political Economy, 82(4), 817–827. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1837148
  15. Dickey, D. A., & Fuller, W. A. (1981). Likelihood ratio statistics for autoregressive time series with a unit root. Econometrica, 49(4), 1057–1072. https://doi.org/10.2307/1912517
  16. Doğan, A. (2005). Demokrasi ve ekonomik gelişme. Erciyes Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 25, 1–19.
  17. Doucouliagos, H., & Ulubaşoğlu, M. A. (2008). Democracy and economic growth: A meta-analysis. American Journal of Political Science, 52(1), 61–83. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2007.00299.x
  18. Engle, R. F., & Granger, C. W. J. (1987). Co-integration and error correction: Representation, estimation, and testing. Econometrica, 55(2), 251–276. https://doi.org/10.2307/1913236
  19. Erkuş, S., & Karamelikli, H. (2016). Türkiye’de demokrasi ve iktisadi büyüme arasındaki uzun dönemli ilişki. In International Turgut Ozal Congress on Business, Economics and Political Science (INTOCBEPS II) Proceedings (pp. 488–497). Ankara, Türkiye.
  20. Fidrmuc, J. (2003). Economic reform, democracy and growth during post-communist transition. European Journal of Political Economy, 19(3), 583-604. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0176-2680(03)00010-7
  21. George, A. (2019). Democracy, trade openness and economic growth: A cross-country study. ZENITH International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 9(4), 236–248.
  22. Gupta, D. K., Madhavan, M. C., & Blee, A. (1998). Democracy, economic growth and political instability: An integrated perspective. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 27(5), 587–611.
  23. Helliwell, J. F. (1994). Empirical linkages between democracy and economic growth. British Journal of Political Science, 24(2), 225–248.
  24. Inkeles, A., & Sirowy, L. (1990). The effect of democracy on economic growth and inequality: A review. Studies in Comparative International Development, 25, 126–157. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02716908
  25. Jaunky, V. C. (2013). Democracy and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: A panel data approach. Empirical Economics, 45(2), 987–1008. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-012-0633-x
  26. Johansen, S., & Juselius, K. (1990). Maximum likelihood estimation and inference on cointegration—with applications to the demand for money. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 52(2), 169–210. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0084.1990.mp52002003.x
  27. Koçak, E., & Uzay, N. (2017). Türkiye'de demokrasi ve ekonomik büyüme ilişkisi: Ampirik bir araştırma. Yönetim ve Ekonomi: Celal Bayar Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 24(3), 705–723. https://doi.org/10.18657/yonveek.305737
  28. Krieckhaus, J. (2006). Democracy and economic growth: How regional context influences regime effects. British Journal of Political Science, 36(2), 317–340. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123406000172
  29. Kurzman, C., Werum, R., & Burkhart, R. E. (2002). Democracy's effect on economic growth: A pooled time-series. Studies in Comparative International Development, 37(1), 3–33. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02686336
  30. Munck, G. L. (2009). Measuring democracy: A bridge between scholarship and politics. Johns Hopkins University Press.
  31. Munck, G. L., & Verkuilen, J. (2002). Conceptualizing and measuring democracy: Evaluating alternative indices. Comparative Political Studies, 35(1), 5–34. https://doi.org/10.1177/001041400203500101
  32. Önder, F. (2023). Türkiye’de Demokrasi ve Ekonomik Büyüme İlişkisinin Ampirik Analizi. Gaziantep Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 22(Cumhuriyet’in 100. Yılı), 386-398. https://doi.org/10.21547/jss.1357612
  33. Pesaran, M. H., Shin, Y., & Smith, R. J. (2001). Bounds testing approaches to the analysis of level relationships. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 16(3), 289–326. https://doi.org/10.1002/jae.616
  34. Phillips, P. C. B., & Perron, P. (1988). Testing for a unit root in time series regression. Biometrika, 75(2), 335-346. https://doi.org/10.1093/biomet/75.2.335
  35. Pourgerami, A. (1988). The political economy of development: A cross-national causality test of the development–democracy–growth hypothesis. Public Choice, 58(2), 123–141. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00125718
  36. Rodrik, D. (2000). Institutions for high-quality growth: What they are and how to acquire them. Studies in Comparative International Development, 35(3), 3–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02699764
  37. Tarı, R. (2002). Ekonometri (9. bs.). Alfa Yayınları.
  38. Tavares, J., & Wacziarg, R. (2001). How democracy affects growth. European Economic Review, 45(8), 1341–1378. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0014-2921(00)00093-3
  39. Treier, S., & Jackman, S. (2008). Democracy as a latent variable. American Journal of Political Science, 52(1), 201–217. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2007.00308.x
  40. Tütüncü, A. (2020). Gelişmekte olan ülkelerde demokrasinin ekonomik büyümeye etkisi. Sosyoekonomi, 28(44), 27–40. https://doi.org/10.17233/sosyoekonomi.2020.02.02
  41. Yağış, O. (2023). OECD ülkelerinde ekonomik büyüme ve demokrasi ilişkisi: Dinamik panel veri analizi. Politik Ekonomik Kuram, 7(2), 382–392. https://doi.org/10.30586/pek.1342348
  42. Yay, G. G. (2002). İktisadi gelişme ve demokrasi ilişkisi üzerine bir sınama. İstanbul Üniversitesi İktisat Fakültesi Mecmuası, 52(1), 27–54.
  43. Weede, E. (1983). The impact of democracy on economic growth: Some evidence from cross-national analysis. Kyklos, 36(1), 21 39. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6435.1983.tb02659.xDigital Object Identifier (DOI)