Europeanization and multi-level governance in Turkey

Abstract

This study considers whether European Union (EU) pre-accession instruments relating to cohesion policy are contributing to the development of a more compound polity in Turkey and, specifically, assesses the extent to which Europeanization promotes features of multi-level governance. Empirical findings suggest that the implementation system for EU pre-accession aid is centralized with signs of a limited shift towards multi-level governance. Empirical findings also reveal that the implementation structures designed for national policy in response to EU requirements represent a greater degree of shift towards multi-level governance. The argument developed is that the latter is potentially transformative in character as far as regional development policy-making is concerned, though the Turkish polity is to date only slightly more compound as a consequence.