A different form of assemblearism: the Turkish Constitution of 1924

Una diversa forma di assemblearismo: la costituzione turca del 1924

Abstract

Within the European constitutional discourse of the 1920s and 1930s, this essay delves into the profound characteristics, historical context, and ramifications of the 1924 Constitution. This constitutional framework introduced a distinctive form of assemblearism, strategically positioning it within the parliamentary arena as a structural concept, while deviating from conventional parliamentarism solutions, particularly from a rationalized perspective. The 1924 Constitution prioritized harnessing the newfound centrality of the Grand Assembly, a real and proper assemblearism at unique party, as the primary mechanism for safeguarding and championing the secular and republican tenets of Kemalism, rather than engaging in a better definition of the optimal form of government for the new political-system. As a consequence, the Constitution only partially aligned Turkey with Western democracies because, fundamentally, it eroded the core principle of liberal-democratic constitutionalism—the equilibrium and separation of powers — fundamentally rooted in pluralistic values.