Open Access

Factors affecting voter behavior: A research in the case of Bayburt

1 Bayburt University, Vocational School of Social Sciences, Bayburt, Turkiye ROR
2 Hacettepe University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Ankara, Turkiye ROR

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that determine voter behavior in Bayburt province; why right-wing political parties are continuously preferred and why left-wing political parties remain in the city with very low vote rates. Right-wing political parties have been successful in all local/general elections held in Bayburt, which has been an independent electoral district since 1989. The main data source of this study is semi-structured interviews conducted with representatives of provincial political party organizations operating in Bayburt, people working in youth and women’s branches, and deputies and mayors elected from the city. In this context, interviews were conducted with representatives of civil society organizations in the city and people who can be classified as opinion leaders and who are thought to know the political structure in the city relatively well, and a total of 36 interviews were conducted. The main argument of this study is that political preferences and party perceptions in Bayburt can be interpreted within the framework of sociological and rational voting approaches. It has been concluded that there is a strong nationalist conservative voter base in Bayburt and that the religious feelings/sensitivities of the voters underlie this, and that this situation ultimately played a role in the very low vote rates of left-wing parties in the province.

Keywords

How to Cite

Bayar, A., & Caglar, A. (2025). Factors affecting voter behavior: A research in the case of Bayburt. International Journal of Eurasia Social Sciences, 16(62), 2076–2105. https://doi.org/10.70736/ijoess.597

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