Turkey’s Imaginary need for Presidentialism: What would Erdogan’s latest project bring to the country?

Much has been written about the growing demand of the Turkish political elite for the presidential system, though relatively little is known about the potential consequences of replacing the parliamentary democracy with an executive presidency. While President Erdogan’s call for a constitutional change shows no sign of abating, several cabinet members and senior Justice and Development Party (AKP) officials became vocal in their support for the presidential system and its potential benefits in the long run, many of whom cited ‘system fragility’ and ‘inefficiency’ as the main reasons why the presidential system can outperform a parliamentary one in Turkey. The rationale for a regime preference that the government officials put forward shows that we are far from understanding the downsides of adopting the presidential system for Turkey in the long run.