The Weberian State and Turkey

All Our Problems Start With Our Systemlessness:

For a long time, I was obsessed with the Germans, who were very jealous of us. But first of all, I find it useful to look at the situation and situation of ourselves and therefore our country. Are we managing our country well?

As a matter of fact, we cannot manage not only the country, but also everything as it should be, in other words, we cannot manage and are not managed well enough to provide a quality of life for our people as well as the people of developed countries. Of course, this is not just a matter of the current government. It's been our problem for a long time. Just now, we have opened up to the world more, we have more references to compare our own living standards with citizens of other countries. The simplest is to look at the images reflected on social media. Just as Somalia is behind us, for example, we are behind Germany. It is not possible to argue the opposite, and we would be ridiculous if we did.

In our society, both business people and the managers of our institutions and organizations, which are at the highest levels in the state bureaucracy, are "overly in love with power". Having power, oppressing people to the degree of cruelty, is equated with being a good ruler. Unfortunately, the thing called "power" is what they all use most often and know as the only effective tool. We have a business world and a state life, which is built around managing people with orders and instructions, only by hiding behind the money or state power. Undoubtedly, there are exceptions. Contrary to the situation I have described, we have managers who adopt contemporary management principles and treat people under their management 'like human beings'. For example, our governors, mayors, factory managers, etc., who have exemplary qualifications and demonstrate rule-based management. there is. However, indeed these good examples are so exceptional that they go unnoticed in the general 'disorder'.

The Republic of Turkey Has a Centralized System:

Centralism is the basis of our management approach. The founding fathers of the Republic of Turkey, on the basis of a unitary state, based on central control and management. The center has always been desired to be strong. Our whole Turkey, structured in such a way that Ankara is the heart and brain of the whole country. Gendarmerie and police working under the center for our poor citizens in remote corners of the country are in the village or town where they live, which has become a state. Of course, this was not a problem when things were going well, but as problems arise that need to be solved, Ankara has always been the address for a solution. How can poor people's children reach Ankara? Could it be that easy for the peasant, who lives in villages with no roads and no school, whose job is shepherd and labor, yes, for the peasant who is the master of the nation?

Over time, the head of the government in Ankara became the head of everything. Since the centralist tradition has become the character of the Turkish state, the solution of the problems has always been expected from the centre, therefore the solutions have either never come or been delayed. If Ankara does not see it, nothing of the country's glitches will be seen and therefore it is insoluble. Political channels and the party mechanism remain as the only remedy that will warn Ankara and take action.

On the People and Politics:

Thus, our people favored and adopted political parties as if they were a football team. In the years when their own party was in power, everyone learned to reach Ankara, to find a way and get the job done by using the party organizations in the countryside. Those whose party did not come to power were always crushed and waited for their turn. Since the party, which is the government, could not benefit from the 'bounties' provided to its supporters, it could not find the opportunity to improve its quality of life. As a result, the ruling party has become a central mechanism for our country that provides some gains such as 'wealth, dignity, reputation' to those who vote for it.

However, whichever party is in power, shouldn't it act with a modern political understanding such as treating all citizens equally, offering wealth equally, collecting taxes from everyone in accordance with the law, not favoring anyone, not using the government's authority as a means of persecution against those who did not vote for it?

Indeed, if we want the people of this country to live a life on the same scale as the citizens of developed countries, all parties have to come together to give this country a fundamental format and redesign everything in accordance with contemporary criteria. Ours; As the Turkish people, we need to be able to analyze the conditions we are in and put forward a new synthesis, without ignoring our 100-year-old republican experience.

Our country is doomed to a political understanding that thinks it is governing but cannot actually rule. Therefore, as the ruling and opposition parties, the average point of view of all our political parties is the same for the sake of governing, a 'difference' in the eyes of the public does not seem to be much in terms of political parties. Partyism is done only through the leaders, everything is expected from the leaders. However, everything is a part of what we call the Turkish State. Parties, bureaucracy, non-governmental organizations and the general public have separate duties and responsibilities within the integrity of the state. The basis of this is the legal order. The Turkish constitution mandates being a social state of law. It is the fundamental and unchangeable duty of the elected governments, namely the Government of the Republic of Turkey, to offer equal opportunities to all citizens in line with the principles of equality, fraternity and freedom, to recognize the right to own property equally, to govern the people on the basis of the founding principles of the state and the state. The ruling parties change, but these principles do not and should not change. If it changes, there is arbitrariness, it means that there is no state and system in the modern sense.

Max Weber Style State System:

German sociologist Max Weber is one of the most prominent names when it comes to the state. Weber is known as the father of the modern idea of ​​bureaucracy. In my opinion, Weber's thoughts and principles have strong effects on the state structure of Germany today. I think there are many lessons that we as a nation can take from Weber. Actually, I'm not jealous of those Germans. Where did they find someone like this Weber who brought order to the bureaucracy (including the politicians).

The basic principles on which Weber bases his understanding of bureaucracy are listed as follows: Hierarchical structure, Chain of command, Clearly defined job or jobs, Division of labor, Regular management, Specialization and merit, Promotion in a profession based on technical qualifications, Impersonal (impersonal), rules based control etc. Today, the Germans, who are envied by most nations, succeeded in establishing a new state from the ashes in their homeland, which was destroyed in the Second World War, and made Germany the largest economy in the world. The Germans are known for their prescriptiveness and adherence to principles. This disciplined, self-controlled nation has achieved today's developed state structure and its way of governing the country by following the criteria laid out by Weber.

How Much Has Turkish Politics and Bureaucracy Adopted the Weberian Style?

So what did we do? We did not understand Weber, nor did we try to understand it, we did not even bother to apply Weberian principles and took the easy way out. Whoever serves our interests, we made him our crown, we jumped, we worshiped his power! As long as he can see us, help us, do whatever he wants, no matter how he rules the country. In the meantime, let's also state that we are still complying with some of the principles we received from Weber, of course, it goes without saying that we comply with what comes our way. What are they: the hierarchical order and the chain of command. I guess the others didn't suit us.

However, if we could do a little self-criticism, look a little scientifically and at least construct the working life of our country according to scientific principles, we would have solved most of the problems, and we would be able to become a developing country whose people are prosperous.

It seems to us that the boundaries of work have been blurred. Things have become shaped according to people. Instead of regular management, we have invented something called arbitrary management. When it comes to words, maybe we are talking about rules, but we all know that this is just talk.

We do not even consider it necessary to make efforts to specialize in certain areas and to have a license. Why? Because employment in the country, finding a job has become a matter of finding a man rather than being a specialist in a job, and even the meaning of what is called merit has been forgotten. People laugh at the hardworking and intelligent children who study at universities we know very well. A young man who graduated from a mediocre school and whose school life was mediocre, if he finds a man, has access to better opportunities and prosperity than those who go to the best schools. Not to be a doctor, but to find a man from the municipality, buy cheap land, build expensive houses from cheap materials, sell the houses he built at high prices, deceive the public, etc. has become more convenient. During the recruitment to the jobs at the state level, manhood, partisanship, compatriotism, nepotism, kinship, etc. If the criteria are taken as a basis, and this is seen and accepted as a 'working system' by the society in general, think about the rest. In such societies, wouldn't the feet be condemned to be the head and the head to be the foot?

Our party, our community, our sect, our country, and even our understanding of family are dominant in our country. Working, being hardworking is no longer an acceptable feature.

Weberian German State System and Social Structure:

For any professional, being able to rise to the prestigious positions of his profession has become possible with favor, protection and nepotism rather than working, specializing and having merit. In the system, we have been making audits only to punish and in some cases to collect the revenues of the penalties in the state budget. Instead of being like the German society that adopts Weber's system and complies with its requirements, we have become a society that considers it a skill to struggle in a crooked system unique to itself. If we cannot find a way to learn Weber's famous cliché "rational bureaucracy", I am of the opinion that we will not be able to get rid of being a "developing but not developing" country as a country.

My Basic Expectations:

• I would like to bring to your attention some basic principles that come to my mind:
• Decisions should be made based on data. Science should be the guide. The truest guide in life is science.
• One of the most important duties of our managers is to train good managers.
• The organization is also a school, people should be invested, people should be educated.
• People; should be supervised by those with higher knowledge and skills.
• People should be convinced that advancement is based on merit and hard work, it should be considered shameful to resort to other ways, and those who deviate from this path should be punished when necessary by law.
• Defined, temporary powers should be given to key authorities within the framework of legal rules to solve problems quickly, autonomy should be ensured, but the authorities should be given in a way that is limited to the task and when the time comes, the powers must be terminated.
• All country affairs should be within the framework of transparency and accountability.
• While the education system is designed according to our traditions and social richness, a science-based structure should be taken as a basis. An education system based on various religions, sects, racial discrimination and ideological obsession should not be systematic, but a systematic structure should be established that will prevent those who seek it in this direction.
• Let's definitely remove nepotism, favor, bribery and corruption,
• Let's bring the merit now,
• Let's give the offices to those who deserve state jobs,
• Let's make real heads head, let's keep the rabble away from high positions and positions,
• Let's give authority, but let's leave the authority to hold accountable to the nation,
• Let's know how to put aside those who can't and pave the way for those who do best.
• Let's glorify women, let's not discriminate against women in business life, let's establish a society that values ​​women.
• Let's praise and reward bravery and honesty, not cowardice.

Let's do as Hacı Bektaş Veli said:

My friends, my brothers, my souls…

Lift your heads

Like criminals, our faces are on the ground,

We stand by ourselves.

Lift your heads up

We have been given eyes, so that you can watch!

Tongue was given to say!

The hand knows the itchy place on the body,

The trouble is in our hands, the cure is in our hands.

If you seek, you will find, if you give, you will receive.

If you don't believe, you will see...

Conclusion:

Max Weber is a German thinker and sociologist. We have not yet reached the level of "contemporary civilization", which is the goal that Atatürk sets out to every individual of the Turkish nation from which he came, and we are a little far from reaching it. However, the Germans listened to Weber, who came out of their own midst, and took their place among the most advanced and prosperous nations of the world. Even though it has been a century since the establishment of the Republic, I think that if we Turks, who have not been able to establish a Weberian-style management philosophy in our country, and who resist to establish it, at least if we can take the Germans as an example as a nation and society, we can still have a chance to reach the goal set by Atatürk, albeit late. I want to think.