THE MULTIPLIER EFFECT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT TRANSFORMATION ON FOREIGN POLICY CAPACITY: A CITY DIPLOMACY PERSPECTIVE

This study analyzes the multiplier effect of local government transformation on national foreign policy capacity from a city diplomacy perspective within the multilayered dynamics of globalization. In the contemporary international system, where the absolute foreign policy monopoly attributed to central governments by Westphalian sovereignty is eroding, cities and local governments are emerging as strategic actors in international relations. Within this context, the research examines how a surge effect is observed in countries' international performance indicators when local governments reach certain threshold values and central coordination is maintained. The theoretical framework is based on an integrated synthesis of multi-level governance theory, paradiplomacy approaches, city diplomacy, and institutional capacity theory. Designed with a qualitative research methodology, the study employed in-depth repeated interviews conducted with three hundred participants over a ten-year period and comprehensive document analyses as data collection instruments. The findings reveal that local governments' contribution to foreign policy capacity materializes in five fundamental dimensions: economic diplomacy, cultural interaction and soft power, environmental sustainability, digital transformation, and crisis management. The research has determined that central-local coordination constitutes the fundamental condition determining the direction and magnitude of the multiplier effect, and that factors such as institutional maturity level, availability of financial resources, strength of democratic legitimacy, and clarity of strategic vision play decisive roles in optimizing this effect. The study emphasizes that strengthening local governments is not an unconditional value; rather, as historical experiences demonstrate, local structures that break away from central control can lay the groundwork for state fragmentation. The research provides an original contribution to academic literature by empirically supporting the cross-scale synergy prediction of multi-level governance theory, while also offering policymakers a strategic framework for designing local government reforms.