State-Making and Bellicose Theory in the Republic of Turkey
Open Access
Author:
Richardson, Lewis
Area of Honors:
Political Science
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Eric J Fleisch, Thesis Supervisor Matthew Richard Golder, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Turkey Political Science State-Making Statemaking State Making Tilly Bellicose Bellicose Theory bellicist theory State Development History Middle East Republic of Turkey Democratic backsliding democracy autocracy Erdogan Ottoman
Abstract:
This thesis explores the implications of the dominant theory of state making in political science — bellicose theory — within the Republic of Turkey. In examining this theoretical understanding of how states grow and develop, this research describes the specific means by which the modern Turkish state came to be. This is achieved by lending a critical eye to existing scholarship that supports the use of Bellicose theory, while also acknowledging its many shortcomings. Upon doing so, this research employs a case-study methodology that utilizes an extensive historical contextualization of Turkey’s state formation to provide a practical dimension to the theory. In doing so, this thesis uses bellicose theory’s four-part analytical structure to come to several conclusions about the condition of the modern Turkish state.
