Referendum process in the era of personalization of politics: A descriptive case study of constitutional referendum in 2010, Turkey

Abstract

A constitutional referendum on some amendments to the 1982 Constitution was held in Turkiye on 12 September 2010. The amendments voted by 78%, about 58% voted "Yes", and 42% voted "No."The referendum process had faced a propaganda war throughout the media between political leaders. This study seeks to answer this question: Is there any evidence for political personalization of politics in the political speeches of the political leaders and media news? According to the study results, we concluded that there has been "a spiral of personalization" process in Turkiye on the ground of media. 1.