ROBINS, Philip

Public policy making in Turkey : faltering attempts to generate a national drugs policy - UK : Policy Press, April 2009

The caricature of public policy making in Turkey persists: a monolithic state and top-down political authority. There is some secondary literature, albeit limited, that challenges this image, and suggests greater state fragmentation. This cross-cutting case study of drugs policy in Turkey confirms this more differentiated experience. It illuminates the difficulties of process in the development of policy. It points to the disparities in capacity between different government agencies in generating change. For drugs policy itself, the article concludes that in the absence of domestic political will, other rewards, notably the benefits of international prestige and the resources that flow from it, are crucial in bringing about a nominal compliance with global norms.