Democratization and Authoritarian Drift in Türkiye: The Democrat Party Era, 1950-1960

This study examines the coexistence of democratic opening and authoritarian drift during the Democrat Party era in Türkiye (1950–1960). Rather than portraying the period as either a linear transition to democracy or a simple authoritarian rupture, the article analyzes how democratic expansion and authoritarian practices evolved within the same political trajectory. The study employs qualitative historical analysis based on parliamentary proceedings, official legislation, party programs, parliamentary group records, contemporary newspapers, memoirs, and relevant scholarly literature. The analysis is structured around three phases of Democrat Party rule: 1950–1954, 1954–1957, and 1957–1960. The findings show that the Democrat Party initially broadened political participation, incorporated previously marginalized rural and conservative groups into the political system, and softened some exclusionary features of the single-party era. However, especially after 1954, the absolutization of electoral legitimacy, the delegitimation of the opposition, restrictions on press freedom, growing pressure on the judiciary and universities, and intensifying political polarization made authoritarian drift increasingly visible. The study concludes that the Democrat Party period was a formative episode that revealed both the possibilities of democratization in Türkiye and its enduring structural vulnerabilities.