Obscurantist Governance in Turkey: Information Disclosure and Governmental Capacity

Abstract

This article offers a conceptualization for a type of governance that is based on the issue-specific capacity of a government and the barriers erected by this government on the public to access information. We argue that when a government cannot deliver satisfactory performance or lacks the necessary means to manage an issue, it may choose to obscure the reality through various means to hide its incompetence. In this way, the government conceals its poor performance. We look at Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party to exemplify our model, which has had to resort to what we call obscurantist governance.