Justice and Development Party: Social Gaps and Political Mediation

Parties, as one of the most important social forces, are formed on the basis of social gaps and seek to manage them. A few societies can be found that has no social gaps. Therefore, the existence of parties as the mechanism for managing these gaps in all countries is clearly felt necessary. In general, the social gaps, in terms of the nature and type, can be classified into five categories of political, economic, cultural, ethnic, and religious gaps. In Turkey, as a legacy of a plural society, there are several social cleavages that are generally active. That is, it contains the three elements of political awareness, organized structure, and political action simultaneously. The purpose of this study is addressing the Justice and Development Party (AKP) experience in managing the social gaps by examining the historical process of the formation of party programs based on the existing gaps in the country. It seems that the AKP, by focusing on three categories of economic, ethnic, and religious cleavages, plays an important role in preventing and reducing the politicization of gaps. It has been done by expanding and diversifying social bases. The success of the party in several elections and expanding the domain of party voters in recent years can be considered as clear evidence of the AKP’s success.