REFORMING THE POLICYMAKING PROCESS IN TURKEY’S NEW PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM 2018 Fall 183 ARTICLE ABSTRACT Te system of government in Turkey shifed from a parliamentary to an intrinsic presidential system, in which the president solely employs the executive power granted from the constitution, afer the elections held on June 26, 2018. Following the elections, the central government was reorga- nized in quite a short time. While the reorganization process will continue for a certain period, it seems that the main policymaking actors and their role in the new system have substantially emerged. Tis study provides a le- gal and institutional analysis of how the public policy process and the roles and responsibilities of policy actors changed as a result of the restructuring of Turkey’s central government under the new presidential system. * Uludağ University, Turkey ** Sakarya University, Turkey Insight Turkey Vol. 20 / No. 4 / 2018, pp. 183-210 Reforming the Policymaking Process in Turkey’s New Presidential System MEHMET ZAHİD SOBACI, * ÖZER KÖSEOĞLU, ** and NEBİ MİŞ ** Introduction I n the afermath of the controversial presidential election in 2007, Turkey passed a constitutional referendum to introduce popular presidential elec- tions. Te country’s president was elected directly by the people for the frst time in 2014. As a result, the Turkish system of government moved closer to semi-presidentialism in practice, although it remained parliamentarism de jure. Taking into consideration the risks and problems that the system’s ambiguity entailed, a new constitutional referendum was held on April 16, 2017 –when the electorate agreed to the adoption of the ‘Presidency’ system of government. Tose changes presented Turkish policymakers with a new reform wave in public administration. Following the June 2018 presidential and parliamentary elections, the country formally transitioned to presiden- tialism and it became necessary for the authorities to create a system of public administration compatible with the new system. Tus, Turkey restructured the organization and functions of its public administration, as the process of public policy development, the decision makers and their roles underwent certain changes. DOI: 10.25253/99.2018204.08