Int. J. Electronic Governance, Vol. X, No. Y, XXXX
Voter advice applications in practice: answers to
some key questions from Turkey
Ali Çarkoğlu*
Koç Universitesi,
Department of International Relations,
Rumelifeneri Yolu,
34450, Sariyer Istanbul, Turkey
Email:
*Corresponding author
Thomas Vitiello
Sabanci Universitesi – FASS 2090,
Orhanli – Tuzla, 34956 Istanbul, Turkey
Email:
Mert Moral
Department of Political Science,
Binghamton University P.O. Box 6000,
Binghamton, NY, USA
Email:
Abstract: This paper investigates the effects of the media promotion of the
Turkish Voter Advice Application website (www.oypusulasi.org) during the
2011 Turkish Parliamentary elections. The research design combines data on
the dates and medium used for the promotion of the VAA with statistical data
on the number of connections received, the recommendations by users, and the
user’s propensity to vote for each individual party. By running a multiple-
interrupted time series model, we find that there is a double-screen effect in the
promotion campaign. In fact, the VAA was promoted through traditional
media, such as television and newspapers, and through Internet-based
communications. We also find that the political parallelism that characterises
the Turkish media system has an important impact on the composition of the
users, as voters who support conservative parties were only attracted to the
website when it was mentioned in conservative media.
Keywords: voter advice applications; election campaign; political parallelism;
statistical analysis; Turkey.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Çarkoğlu, A., Vitiello, T.
and Moral, M. (XXX) ‘Voter advice applications in practice: answers to some
key questions from Turkey’, Int. J. Electronic Governance, Vol. X, No. Y,
pp.xx–xx.
Biographical notes: Ali Çarkoğlu received his PhD in Political Science at the
State University of New York-Binghamton in 1994. He previously taught at
Boğaziçi and Sabanci universities in Istanbul. His areas of research interest
Copyright © 200X Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
, A. Çarkoğlu, T. Vitiello and M. Moral
include voting behaviour, public opinion and party politics in Turkey. He is on
the editorial board of the Turkish Studies and his publications appeared in
Democratization, European Journal of Political Research, Electoral Studies,
Turkish Studies, New Perspectives on Turkey, South European Society and
Politics and Political Studies. His most recent book co-authored with Ersin
Kalaycıoğlu appeared from Palgrave: The Rising Tide of Conservatism in
Turkey (2009).
Thomas Vitiello is a Marie Curie Fellow enrolled in the Intensive Training
Network in Electoral Democracies (ITN-ELECDEM). He is preparing his PhD
dissertation on Voter Advice Applications at Sabanci University in Istanbul,
Turkey. He participated in VAAs’ project in France, Tunisia and Turkey. His
areas of research interests include political communication, voter advice
applications, voting behaviour, Turkish politics, comparative politics and
rhetoric.
Mert Moral is a PhD student at the Department of Political Science at SUNY
Binghamton University. His main academic interests are political economy of
globalisation, international investment and development, political parties and
electoral behavior, and methodology.
1 Introduction
On 12 June 2011 Turkey had the third general election wherein the conservative Justice
and Development Party [Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi-AKP] dominated the election polls
with 49.8% of the votes. The AKP’s first election victory in 2002 came in with 34.3%, to
be followed by 46.6% in the 2007 general elections, and so this third election victory was
a sign of continued success. As the electoral appeal of the AKP widened, the nature of
the Turkish party system and behaviour of key players therein slowly changed, a process
which in turn generated diverse consequences for government practices.
One result of the AKP’s establishment is that The Turkish party system has become a
predominant party system where uncertainty about election results, and especially about
the winner, has considerably diminished, and the opposition is in considerable disarray.1
A prominent feature of predominant party systems in general is the increasing
complacency of the dominant party in power.2 Election successes are typically taken for
granted and real competition between parties is replaced by competition between
fractions within the dominant party. An immediate implication of this development for
election campaigns is a focus, not on alternative issue positions and policy differences
but rather on inner party struggles and rhetorical differences.
The establishment of such an atmosphere in the campaign, characterised by low
information content, was also due to a 10% threshold of electoral support for gaining
representation in the Turkish Grand National Assembly [Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi-
TBMM]. In this system, unless a political party receives 10% of the nationwide votes, it
cannot receive any seats in the TBMM. Accordingly, commentators in the June 2011
election focused on whether or not the Nationalist Action Party [Milliyetçi Hareket
Partisi-MHP] was going to remain above or below the 10% nationwide electoral
threshold. Thus, a great deal of attention was directed toward the horse-race, polarising
attention on the upcoming seat shares in the TBMM. In addition, since the 1990s, ethnic
, Voter advice applications in practice
and ideological cleavages have proved to be particularly powerful in structuring the
Turkish electorate (Çarkoğlu and Kalaycioğlu, 2009; Kalaycioğlu, 1999). This feature
has also led to the priming of a nationalist and polarised frame in public discourse,
pushing aside policy stances.
For the June 2011 election, the widening electoral power of the AKP was clearly
evident in how the election campaign was conducted by the political parties as well as
how it was covered in the media. As the AKP confidently moved towards its third
consecutive election victory, the media coverage appeared increasingly polarised and
biased. More importantly, the information content of the election debates and discussions
appeared to sink even lower. The web based voter advice application (VAA) (www.
oypusulasi.org) that was launched during the last four weeks of the campaign preceding
the 12 June 2011 election can hence be considered as a natural response to this growing
partisan alignment of the Turkish media.
VAAs are web-based software tools that typically provide substantive information on
issues, instead of the horse race upon which the election campaigns often tend to
concentrate. VAAs are seen as a valuable resource for undecided voters seeking
authoritative information on the issue positions of parties (Farrell and Schmitt-Beck,
2008). From a normative perspective, VAAs aim to deepen the knowledge of the
electorate in a modern democracy by providing objective information, thus allowing
voters to compare parties and leaders with regards to their stances on policy issues.
However, as we will demonstrate, such applications are critically dependent on media
promotion and become most effective when and if traditional media supports VAAs.
Despite the very limited support the Oypusulasi application received from traditional
media sources, it was able to reach approximately 190,000 respondents.3 As we will
illustrate below, the application proves to be a valuable additional information source for
election analysts in providing crucial information to interested voters about the issue
positions of the major parties in an election. We show below that the sample of
respondents reached via this application exhibit intriguing patterns. We also demonstrate
the effectiveness of media support in promoting such applications. In conclusion, we
argue that effective partnership with media is essential in reaching a large and well-
balanced sample of the electorate.
2 The Turkish media system and political parallelism
Since the AKP’s coming to power following the 2002 general election, an increasing
concern has been voiced about the freedom of media, pressures upon the press, and the
emergence of an advocate/partisan’s [yandaş] media (Çarkoglu, 2010; Kaya and Çakmur,
2010; Kaymas, 2011). According to Freedom House’s reports, Turkey was ranked in
2011 as 116th out of 206 countries in the Freedom of the Press Index with a status of
“partly free”. Similarly, the 2011 Press Freedom Index released by Reporters without
Borders ranked Turkey as 138th among 179 nations, with increasing restraints on press
especially in 2003, 2004, and 2009–2011.4 Media systems are shaped by the wider
context of political structure and thus, the influence of the political system on media
institutions is not unexpected. As Hallin and Mancini (2004, pp.46–65) note, the role of
state, interest groups, the structure of clientelism and the party system all influence the
structure of a media system. Thus, in Turkey’s case, these developments are hardly
surprising within the rising predominant party system in the country.
Voter advice applications in practice: answers to
some key questions from Turkey
Ali Çarkoğlu*
Koç Universitesi,
Department of International Relations,
Rumelifeneri Yolu,
34450, Sariyer Istanbul, Turkey
Email:
*Corresponding author
Thomas Vitiello
Sabanci Universitesi – FASS 2090,
Orhanli – Tuzla, 34956 Istanbul, Turkey
Email:
Mert Moral
Department of Political Science,
Binghamton University P.O. Box 6000,
Binghamton, NY, USA
Email:
Abstract: This paper investigates the effects of the media promotion of the
Turkish Voter Advice Application website (www.oypusulasi.org) during the
2011 Turkish Parliamentary elections. The research design combines data on
the dates and medium used for the promotion of the VAA with statistical data
on the number of connections received, the recommendations by users, and the
user’s propensity to vote for each individual party. By running a multiple-
interrupted time series model, we find that there is a double-screen effect in the
promotion campaign. In fact, the VAA was promoted through traditional
media, such as television and newspapers, and through Internet-based
communications. We also find that the political parallelism that characterises
the Turkish media system has an important impact on the composition of the
users, as voters who support conservative parties were only attracted to the
website when it was mentioned in conservative media.
Keywords: voter advice applications; election campaign; political parallelism;
statistical analysis; Turkey.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Çarkoğlu, A., Vitiello, T.
and Moral, M. (XXX) ‘Voter advice applications in practice: answers to some
key questions from Turkey’, Int. J. Electronic Governance, Vol. X, No. Y,
pp.xx–xx.
Biographical notes: Ali Çarkoğlu received his PhD in Political Science at the
State University of New York-Binghamton in 1994. He previously taught at
Boğaziçi and Sabanci universities in Istanbul. His areas of research interest
Copyright © 200X Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
, A. Çarkoğlu, T. Vitiello and M. Moral
include voting behaviour, public opinion and party politics in Turkey. He is on
the editorial board of the Turkish Studies and his publications appeared in
Democratization, European Journal of Political Research, Electoral Studies,
Turkish Studies, New Perspectives on Turkey, South European Society and
Politics and Political Studies. His most recent book co-authored with Ersin
Kalaycıoğlu appeared from Palgrave: The Rising Tide of Conservatism in
Turkey (2009).
Thomas Vitiello is a Marie Curie Fellow enrolled in the Intensive Training
Network in Electoral Democracies (ITN-ELECDEM). He is preparing his PhD
dissertation on Voter Advice Applications at Sabanci University in Istanbul,
Turkey. He participated in VAAs’ project in France, Tunisia and Turkey. His
areas of research interests include political communication, voter advice
applications, voting behaviour, Turkish politics, comparative politics and
rhetoric.
Mert Moral is a PhD student at the Department of Political Science at SUNY
Binghamton University. His main academic interests are political economy of
globalisation, international investment and development, political parties and
electoral behavior, and methodology.
1 Introduction
On 12 June 2011 Turkey had the third general election wherein the conservative Justice
and Development Party [Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi-AKP] dominated the election polls
with 49.8% of the votes. The AKP’s first election victory in 2002 came in with 34.3%, to
be followed by 46.6% in the 2007 general elections, and so this third election victory was
a sign of continued success. As the electoral appeal of the AKP widened, the nature of
the Turkish party system and behaviour of key players therein slowly changed, a process
which in turn generated diverse consequences for government practices.
One result of the AKP’s establishment is that The Turkish party system has become a
predominant party system where uncertainty about election results, and especially about
the winner, has considerably diminished, and the opposition is in considerable disarray.1
A prominent feature of predominant party systems in general is the increasing
complacency of the dominant party in power.2 Election successes are typically taken for
granted and real competition between parties is replaced by competition between
fractions within the dominant party. An immediate implication of this development for
election campaigns is a focus, not on alternative issue positions and policy differences
but rather on inner party struggles and rhetorical differences.
The establishment of such an atmosphere in the campaign, characterised by low
information content, was also due to a 10% threshold of electoral support for gaining
representation in the Turkish Grand National Assembly [Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi-
TBMM]. In this system, unless a political party receives 10% of the nationwide votes, it
cannot receive any seats in the TBMM. Accordingly, commentators in the June 2011
election focused on whether or not the Nationalist Action Party [Milliyetçi Hareket
Partisi-MHP] was going to remain above or below the 10% nationwide electoral
threshold. Thus, a great deal of attention was directed toward the horse-race, polarising
attention on the upcoming seat shares in the TBMM. In addition, since the 1990s, ethnic
, Voter advice applications in practice
and ideological cleavages have proved to be particularly powerful in structuring the
Turkish electorate (Çarkoğlu and Kalaycioğlu, 2009; Kalaycioğlu, 1999). This feature
has also led to the priming of a nationalist and polarised frame in public discourse,
pushing aside policy stances.
For the June 2011 election, the widening electoral power of the AKP was clearly
evident in how the election campaign was conducted by the political parties as well as
how it was covered in the media. As the AKP confidently moved towards its third
consecutive election victory, the media coverage appeared increasingly polarised and
biased. More importantly, the information content of the election debates and discussions
appeared to sink even lower. The web based voter advice application (VAA) (www.
oypusulasi.org) that was launched during the last four weeks of the campaign preceding
the 12 June 2011 election can hence be considered as a natural response to this growing
partisan alignment of the Turkish media.
VAAs are web-based software tools that typically provide substantive information on
issues, instead of the horse race upon which the election campaigns often tend to
concentrate. VAAs are seen as a valuable resource for undecided voters seeking
authoritative information on the issue positions of parties (Farrell and Schmitt-Beck,
2008). From a normative perspective, VAAs aim to deepen the knowledge of the
electorate in a modern democracy by providing objective information, thus allowing
voters to compare parties and leaders with regards to their stances on policy issues.
However, as we will demonstrate, such applications are critically dependent on media
promotion and become most effective when and if traditional media supports VAAs.
Despite the very limited support the Oypusulasi application received from traditional
media sources, it was able to reach approximately 190,000 respondents.3 As we will
illustrate below, the application proves to be a valuable additional information source for
election analysts in providing crucial information to interested voters about the issue
positions of the major parties in an election. We show below that the sample of
respondents reached via this application exhibit intriguing patterns. We also demonstrate
the effectiveness of media support in promoting such applications. In conclusion, we
argue that effective partnership with media is essential in reaching a large and well-
balanced sample of the electorate.
2 The Turkish media system and political parallelism
Since the AKP’s coming to power following the 2002 general election, an increasing
concern has been voiced about the freedom of media, pressures upon the press, and the
emergence of an advocate/partisan’s [yandaş] media (Çarkoglu, 2010; Kaya and Çakmur,
2010; Kaymas, 2011). According to Freedom House’s reports, Turkey was ranked in
2011 as 116th out of 206 countries in the Freedom of the Press Index with a status of
“partly free”. Similarly, the 2011 Press Freedom Index released by Reporters without
Borders ranked Turkey as 138th among 179 nations, with increasing restraints on press
especially in 2003, 2004, and 2009–2011.4 Media systems are shaped by the wider
context of political structure and thus, the influence of the political system on media
institutions is not unexpected. As Hallin and Mancini (2004, pp.46–65) note, the role of
state, interest groups, the structure of clientelism and the party system all influence the
structure of a media system. Thus, in Turkey’s case, these developments are hardly
surprising within the rising predominant party system in the country.
