Social Capital and Civil Society in Turkey, 1994-2014: A Cross-Regional Comparison

The objective of this study is to discuss civil society organizations’ (CSOs) potential to generate social capital in Turkey by analyzing the changes observed in patterns of CSOs participation since the 1990s onwards. In this vein, the study aims to contribute to research on Turkey’s social capital. For the analysis, the study utilizes World Values Survey (WVS), 1994-2014 Turkey data. The findings show declining CSOs participation rates; a noteworthy decline in the participation rates to traditional interest groups; and serious regional differences of participation to CSOs, which are given special emphasis by social capital literature such as the CSOs on new social movements and self-expressive values, during 2000s. The study also underlines the changing demographic properties of the CSOs’ participants during the same period. More women and younger citizens have started to participate in the CSOs throughout the 2000s. Participants’ average education levels have increased as well