The Erdoğan government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic: performance and actuality in an authoritarian context

Laebens, M. G. and Öztürk, A. (2022) The Erdoğan government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic: performance and actuality in an authoritarian context. Government and Opposition, (doi: 10.1017/gov.2022.16) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

This article analyses the Erdoğan government's policy response to the coronavirus pandemic. Despite the abundant use of moral antagonisms in his discourse, Erdoğan did not attempt to politicize the pandemic, instead framing it as a global health crisis and presenting the government's public health policies as expert-driven and competent. However, this expert-driven approach was largely a performance. Without a system of democratic oversight or a free media to scrutinize government policies, the Erdoğan government could systematically undercount COVID-19 cases and disregard its own public health restrictions, all the while spreading its narrative of competence and success. Competitive policymaking by opposition-controlled municipalities and criticism from a strong doctors' association had relatively limited ability to discredit the government. The public opinion data we present reveal broad-based support for the government's COVID policies. Our article highlights how authoritarian institutions allow governments to sustain a gap between performance and actuality, granting their leaders greater possibilities to claim policy success.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Ozturk, Dr Aykut
• Authors: Laebens, M. G., and Öztürk, A.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics
• Journal Name: Government and Opposition
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• ISSN: 0017-257X
• ISSN (Online): 1477-7053
• Published Online: 26 May 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 Cambridge University Press
• First Published: First published in Government and Opposition 2022
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher