Social cleavages as a key to understand electoral choices in İstanbul

Abstract

Based on a survey conducted in 2008 in two districts of Istanbul, this paper will argue that social cleavage is still a crucial factor in determining party alignment in Turkey. Despite the fact that society went through a rapid process of mod- ernization and markedly improved its economic conditions in the last three dec- ades, the great majority of voters’ choice appears to be mainly along two differ- ent cleavages: the religious and the regional one. In spite of the deep social and political transformation of Turkish society, these fractures among voters appear to be still determinant also in the biggest urban area, which should represent the vanguard in the process of ‘Modernization’.