Acts of Compliance and Tactful Contention The Polarized Terrain of Women’s Organizations in Turkey under Authoritarian Pressure

In this chapter, I examine how the societal and political conditions of competitive authoritarian regimes (CA) shape interest group ecologies. The chapter demonstrates that civil society and the mobilization of interest groups therein is different in CA regimes compared to both consolidated autocracies and liberal democracies. There is a unique set of conditions affecting interest communities in these regimes. Pockets of civic resistance, relative competitiveness of the oppositional groups, political pressure in the form of cooptation and selective repression contour interest groups’ organizational forms and entry and exit terms. I examine Turkey under the rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) (2002-present) as an illustrative case. Specifically, I focus on advocacy in the area of gender politics by highlighting the role of women’s organizations that legitimize or challenge the AKP’s authoritarian gender politics.