Comparative Political Systems and the Political System That I Envisioned

There are many forms of government in the world, such as monarchy, oligarchy and republic. In some of these forms of government, sovereignty appears to be concentrated in a single person, in others there is a council around a single person elected by the same single person, but this council makes its decisions in line with the wishes and desires of the person who elected them. In some, the people directly influence the decisions, but are forced to live with their freedoms restricted according to the rules of the first name, such as communist, socialist, Islamic, Christian, etc., even though the second name is republic. In others, the sovereignty of the people is absolute and they are governed by a system we call democracy.

Governments, even if they are called republics, that do not aim at the welfare and happiness of their people, that cause polarization among their people by not ensuring social peace, that do not establish justice on a basis where all segments of society are considered equal, that do not sufficiently benefit their people from the resources of their country and that discriminate among their citizens, have either collapsed or are in crisis. The Syrian Arab Republic, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Iraq and the former USSR are the best examples.

Hafez al-Assad's Syria, which was elected President for 29 years with more than 95% of the vote, despite its abundant oil resources, has been in civil war for years, its people are miserable, and even now nearly half of its population are refugees, mostly in our country. Similarly, the oil-rich Republic of Iraq was ruled for 24 years by Saddam Hussein, who was elected President with nearly 99% of the votes, but Saddam could not prevent the imperialist invasion of his country. Because he also failed to bring justice and prosperity to his people and divided them into Sunni and Shiite groups. 

In the same way, Iran is in crisis because of its oppressive rule, despite the fact that it is home to many faith groups. Of course, the US has a big share in this situation, but in any case, a significant part of its people are not satisfied with their lives. According to Iran's Oil Minister, Iran has the capacity to produce 4 million barrels of oil per day and 34 billion cubic meters of natural gas reserves. In addition, there are 340 tons of gold reserves in 18 known gold mines. It is one of the few countries in the world rich in underground resources. If Iran were to use at least some of these resources for the welfare of its people without restricting their freedoms, and if it did not struggle so much with basic human rights and freedoms, there would be neither a crisis in its country nor would it be subjected to pressure from imperialist states. It is impossible not to see that Iran's economic power is not reflected in its people by the condition of the mudbrick houses destroyed in the earthquakes and the misery of the earthquake victims. 

The former USSR adopted the communist system after the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. The system, which was founded on the principle of so-called equality, kept its people under constant pressure with the intelligence organization called KGB. In addition, it had to disintegrate due to the economic losses it suffered due to World War II, the high budgets it allocated to armaments during the cold war period and many similar reasons. The dictatorial leaders of Fascist Germany under Hitler and Fascist Italy under Mussolini also dragged their people into war and made them suffer because of their ambitions and ambitions. In the end, these dictatorial leaders were buried in history with deaths unbecoming of a leader. Ceausescu, the Romanian President of the Communist era, is also remembered for his disastrous death, despite having amassed the world's wealth while his people were hungry and miserable. Gaddafi, the leader of Libya, also shared prosperity with his people, but due to his undemocratic rule, he was unable to prevent the imperialist intervention in his country and was brutally murdered.

There is also dynasty, where the rule of the state is passed from father to son like an inheritance. There are of course very successful rulers in history, but incompetent throne holders have led their countries to destruction. For this reason, many nations around the world have put an end to this system. Unfortunately, most of these changes have been bloody. In most of these, the contribution of the people, who were kept ignorant and oppressed under the rule of one man, is also significant. Yes, the leaders in these countries were elected, but the people, unfortunately, due to ignorance, either out of fear or blind obedience or ignorance of the realities of the world as a result of their isolation from the outside world, submitted to the tyranny of their leaders and had to approve the rule of the same leaders every time in the elections.

As Mustafa Kemal Atatürk said, the government that best suits the character and customs of the Turkish Nation is the republican government. The Grand National Assembly consolidated the form of government as a republic in accordance with the true tendencies of the Turkish Nation. 

Of course, a republic is meaningless if it is not crowned with democracy. The most important factor of democracy is the absolute will of the people. Democracy cannot work unless sovereignty is unconditionally and unconditionally in the hands of the nation itself.

We can classify political regimes by looking at the form of government, the style of governance of the rulers, and the content between the rulers and the ruled. If there is an environment in which the governed can be effective in the election of the rulers, the rulers periodically account to those who elected them, ask for support for re-election, and there is an environment in which candidates representing multiple and different political views, ideas or interests compete fearlessly and fairly for each political decision-making position, we call this regime a democracy. In regimes where these conditions do not exist, freedom of opinion, organization, information and dissent are limited or non-existent. It is out of the question for the rulers to determine political powers. However, both individuals and institutions can act as a notary to approve those in power. We call these regimes authoritarian regimes. Finally, we call totalitarian regimes where every structure and institution in society (from the family to the school, from the school to the workplace) is controlled by the government and its agents, where freedoms are non-existent and even considered a threat to the regime. (1)

A regime can start with democracy. After the power holders elected through democracy change the power of governance to suit themselves and start using the blessings of power for their own benefit and increase their power by taking extraordinary powers depending on the parliamentary majority they have, they may get power poisoning and may not want to lose this power. In order to stay in power, they may want to increase their authority by restricting the freedoms of the governed by using the power they have. As Hitler did; on the one hand, while suppressing and silencing those who oppose him, on the other hand, he restricts the freedom of information of the people by using various means, especially the press and media organs, and he can make the public believe him by ensuring that news is made in line with his wishes and desires. It can even take over the authority of the parliament and concentrate the legislative and executive powers in one hand. The most dangerous thing is the loss of independence of the judiciary. If he takes the judiciary under his control and closes the system to scrutiny, he will not be held accountable for his wrongdoings and will not have to answer for them. However, for democracies to function, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, which we call the separation of powers, must act independently of each other. 

The parliament will make laws, the council of ministers will run the affairs of the state and the independent courts will ensure that the wheels of the state run smoothly. In democratic regimes, there is usually a CONSTITUTION and compliance with the Constitution is essential in governance. 

There are presidential, semi-presidential and parliamentary systems in democratic countries, provided that they adhere to democracy. The parliamentary system is also referred to as majoritarian, pluralist and consensualist and is separated from each other according to their representation in the parliament. The USA is one of the leading countries implementing the presidential system. In the US Presidential system, whose President is elected by the people, there are two separate groups, the Congress, which is the legislative body elected by the people, and the Senate, which is a kind of executive body. The Senate is the popularly elected approval authority. Nothing can be done without the approval of the Senate, even if it is a personal decision of the President. All of their activities are supervised by the Supreme Court.

The semi-presidential system is also common in non-EU Eastern European countries, particularly France and Finland. Although there is a parliament and a council of ministers, the President has more powers. The power and supremacy of the legislative body is less compared to the parliamentary system. 

As I mentioned above, parliamentary systems are divided into pluralist and consensualist systems. In the consensual system, it is not possible to talk about the unitary structure of the state. In this system, all ethnic and belief groups within the country are represented separately in proportion to the votes of these groups. As such, it is naturally difficult for the parliament to work efficiently. They are faced with a multi-pronged coalition, especially during the formation of the government. In a pluralist parliamentary system, on the other hand, the legislature is made up of party groups. There is a President of the Republic, but the main responsibility lies with the executive branch, the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers. The President is above them and is impartial. He is essentially an approval authority, but he is also an authority of checks and balances. The main responsibility for checks and balances lies with the independent courts. Even those with immunity can have their immunity lifted by a parliamentary decision and be held accountable and punished in independent courts.

The current system in our country is the Presidential Government System. Apparently, this system is unique in the world. The President is endowed with extraordinary powers and can, if he so wishes, govern the country on his own, without even requiring the legislature to enact any laws, through Decrees in Force of Law that he can issue with his own signature. There is no council of ministers. There are ministers but they are appointed by the President. The Council of Ministers does not require a vote of confidence. In fact, each minister is seen as an undersecretary, an appointed official of the state. The fact that the President is also the Chairman of a party causes him to act like the Prime Minister in the parliamentary system. In such a system, there is a risk that a partisan president and the office of the presidency will lose the trust of those who do not belong to his party. However, the President is the head of state and has to be at an equal distance to every citizen. Even if his citizens do not like him, they have to respect his office.

A consensual parliamentary system is absolutely unsuitable for the Republic of Turkey, which is a nation state. In my opinion, the most appropriate and acceptable form of government for a secular, democratic, social, democratic and social state of law where all citizens are equal before the law and respect fundamental rights and freedoms is the Republic crowned with democracy. A strong parliamentary system based on the unconditional sovereignty of the nation under the roof of the Parliament elected by the nation, under the supervision of a President who does not discriminate between its citizens, is embracing, has a high level of knowledge, has a broad intuition, believes in the rule of law, and a strong parliamentary system based on the unconditional sovereignty of the nation under the roof of the Parliament elected by the nation, and the existence of a council of ministers consisting of meritorious and honest people elected from among the members of the parliament and approved by the majority of the parliament, in my opinion, is the most suitable system of government for our character.

In the system I desire, in addition to the indivisible integrity of the homeland, social peace should be ensured, people's religion, beliefs and lifestyles should not be interfered with, no discrimination should be made between the people who make up the nation, fundamental rights and freedoms should be respected with equality of opportunity, rulers should be fair and meritorious, income imbalance should be minimized, welfare should be spread to all segments of society, the quality of education should be improved, social justice should be ensured and the rule of law should be the basis. Politics should not be allowed in mosques, schools, courthouses and barracks. The independence of independent institutions such as the Central Bank and TurkStat should be preserved. Scientists and science should be supported and political and moral corruption should not be allowed. The state's supervisory power should be used in a timely and appropriate manner against all forms of exploitation and opportunism. The health of society, especially mental and psychological health, must be protected and guaranteed by the state. Our women, girls and children should not be subjected to abuse and mistreatment. Young people should have no worries about the future. Every individual should have a job and an income that will enable them to live their lives humanely. Our nature and natural resources must be protected, starting with the environment we live in. Our underground and above-ground riches should be protected and should not be sold off to foreigners. No harmful movement targeting the regime, flag, soil and peace of the country should be tolerated. Our army must be strengthened. Our production in every field must be increased, producers must be supported, and foreign dependency in industry and agriculture must be minimized. There should be no outdated practices such as corruption, bribery, nepotism, favoritism, and torpedoes that drag countries into darkness and even cause them to sink.  While being peaceful in foreign policy, the rights of the State of the Republic of Turkey and the Turkish Nation must be protected to the end. The reputation of the state, not individuals, should be taken as a basis.

 In this system, the most important duty of citizens is to control those who govern them and change them when necessary. In order for the citizen to fulfill this duty, he/she should observe and question impartially and objectively in the light of reason and science, without thinking about his/her personal interests, and when the election time comes, he/she should vote according to the truths he/she has reached by putting his/her hand on his/her conscience and change the unsuccessful ones immediately. 

(1) Prof.Dr.Ersin Kalaycıoğlu (Comparative Political Systems)