Politics as a profession and "being a deputy"

"Politics as a Vocation" is the title of the famous article by the renowned sociologist Max Weber. He devoted another piece to "Science as a Vocation." Besides the questions of how far scientific activity can be, and should be, purified of values and prejudices, Weber examines a scientist's ties to science, to politics, and perhaps to life in general. In both essays he ultimately examines the likely effects on the quality of both pursuits of living them as an exclusive vocation.

Indeed, when politics in the broadest sense is reduced to a profession, it becomes the business of those who deal with politics professionally, and for everyone else this field comes to be perceived as one to be kept away from, often dirty, a field of interest only to opportunists and even swindlers. From a more optimistic view, when politics is practiced as a profession, it is seen as an institution of proxy that lifts all burden and responsibility off the shoulders of others.

In either case, politics perceived and accepted as a profession in fact also has the effect of depoliticizing the rest of life, and has no positive effect at all on the maturing of society. Just as the reduction of science, as a pursuit of truth, to a profession is expected to lift every responsibility or merit of "scientific thought" off the shoulders of others. Yet neither is knowledge of truth a monopoly of scientists, nor is the search for knowledge of truth only the responsibility of scientists, and in fact there is no knowledge of truth that scientists, especially at this level, could undertake by proxy, that is, in such a way as to lift the responsibility off others.

We can say that interest in politics as a profession has risen considerably in Turkey. We can infer this at least from the quite high number of applications to become parliamentary candidates in these elections. Around 5,600 candidacy applications to the ruling party, 4,500 to the main opposition party and 2,500 to the MHP are to be concluded by the party leaderships as of today.

If we can speak of this rise in interest owing to a belief that things can change through politics as a profession, that is all well and good; this interest could even be regarded as a sign that we are developing toward a healthier political quality. Yet being a deputy is seen as the most lucrative field of politics perceived as a profession, and in fact, given how it currently operates in Turkey, it has been made one of the fields furthest from political activity. At the same time, entry into the field takes place entirely through the almost absolute selectiveness of the party's top leadership, and so does exit.

On the other hand, the profession is not suited to the exercise of any initiative outside the decisions taken by the party leadership on many matters. In the debates on the constitutional amendment, the CHP and MHP deputies could not even go to the voting booth in parliament except in line with the decision taken by their leaders. Where can you look for, and where can you find, a political role in a position that does not even have this much say and influence on Turkey's fundamental topics of debate? Perhaps one of the most beneficial results of a possible presidential system could be that the institution of deputyship would cease to be a profession and turn into a genuine political role.

On the other hand, being a deputy in Turkey is, in many respects, a truly difficult profession, because the public's expectations of deputies are many and varied. While those who set out to become deputies generally see it as a matter of professional career, we see that they do not sufficiently assess whether they have the qualities that can read and meet the public's expectations. Especially in places outside the big cities, meeting the close attention to employment and daily problems expected of deputies has become increasingly impossible, because the nature of the state in Turkey has changed and the supply of employment has shrunk.

There is a complete squeeze between the global perspective of high politics on Turkey's general problems and conflicts and the daily calculations of local politics, and keeping the balance between the two requires a quite distinct skill. The actors of high politics, working toward Turkey's democratization and its becoming a global power, must not forget that they will receive the final license for this task from the people, to whom they must use the language of daily politics. A little attention withheld from the people can, whatever mission they may have been given, suddenly render it inoperative.

Furthermore, deputyship, which requires the ability to represent the city with all its problems and identity, in fact also expresses a demand for local leadership roles in every province. Perhaps in big cities these demands cannot be very pronounced, because the cosmopolitan structure of these cities channels expectations regarding elections toward more general demands.

Yet in small and medium-sized cities, performance evaluation regarding the role of deputy can be done quickly. It can be assessed whether the deputy or candidate is seeking a professional career or is genuinely taking on a political role. The right or wrong decisions in this regard are also entered in the parties' overall account, that is, the result of the elections.