SUMMARYAfter ratification of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in 1993, Turkey has witnessed major local government reform efforts in 2000s. The policy objectives of these reforms were granting more political, administrative and fiscal discretion to local governments along the principles of democratic decentralization and strengthening accountability linkages between citizens and local governments. We employ a diagnostic framework to analyse the impact of these reforms. We argue that reforms have achieved limited success in improving decision-making autonomy and accountability of local governments.

The first generation local government reforms in Turkey partially granted discretion to local governments. However, they have largely failed to improve downward accountability towards citizens. In 2012, the government has embarked on the second generation reforms which aimed to achieve economies of scale in municipal service provision through municipal amalgamation. The government redesigned the configuration of municipalities, abolished special provincial administrations in metropolitan municipal jurisdictions and converted villages to neighborhoods of municipalities. This paper extends the earlier analysis on local government discretion and accountability to these recent changes. The main focus of the paper is on fiscal discretion and accountability since these changes have mostly affected the fiscal structure of local governments. Analyzing the data issued by the Ministry of Finance, the preliminary results show that local governments have become more dependent on intergovernmental transfers.

The prevalent use of ''most favored nation'' (MFN) clauses in commercial agreements has garnered significant attention in the economics and legal literature and by practitioners and enforcement agencies. From an antitrust standpoint, there is a strong consensus that while MFN provisions can lead to procompetitive outcomes or at least play a competitively neutral role, they may also result in competitive harm and a loss of consumer welfare. Therefore, US and EU enforcement agencies and courts have held that MFNs should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, considering the specific characteristics of both the contractual provision and the industry. While a case-by-case approach is valid, it is not ideal from a variety of standpoints: that of the competition authorities seeking to make best use of their limited resources and that of practitioners seeking to advise their clients. Accordingly, published guidelines on the use of MFNs, containing presumptions and safe harbors, would be both efficient and useful. The paper argues that it would increase the efficiency and accuracy of antitrust enforcement if one of the leading competition authorities issued MFN guidelines. The paper suggests a set of presumptions and safe harbors that should be included in any such guidelines.

In the effort to examine local governments within a country, the first place to look at would be the constitution of that state. Constitutions usually provide us with important information about local governments; on their types, competencies, revenues and various other characteristics. This study aims to compare the clauses devoted to local governments in the constitutions of 23 European Union (EU) member states and Turkey. While there are certain studies concerned with how local governments are worded within constitutions, these are generally singular cases focusing on one country alone. This chapter aims to provide comparative and informative information on local governments in the constitutions of the related states by categorizing the most commonly stipulated clauses.

Günümüz teknolojik ve toplumsal gelişmeleri paralelinde, her türden disipliner/disiplinlerarası etkileşimler artarak devam etmektedir. Mimarlık da edebiyat da disipliner üretimlerini toplumsal alanda gerçekleştiren, üretim alanındaki sosyal ortamdan etkilenen disiplinlerdir. Bu çok yönlü ilişki disiplinler arası araştırmalara katkı koyması açısından araştırılmaya açıktır. Makale, mimarlık ve edebiyat arasında her iki alana da etki eden disiplinler arası bilgi aktarımının nasıl gerçekleştirildiği motivasyonuyla, mimarlığın da edebiyatın da mevcut bilgi yelpazesini genişleten disiplinler arası etkileşimlerin akademik araştırmalara etkisini araştırmaya odaklanır. Bu kapsamda 1987 yılından günümüze Yükseköğretim Kurumu (YÖK) Ulusal Tez Merkezi'nin tez arşivinde bulunan, mimarlık ve edebiyat disiplinlerinin ilişkisini irdeleyen, tamamlanmış yüksek lisans/doktora tez çalışmaları farklı açılardan ele alınmaktadır. "Mekân, mimarlık, edebiyat, metin, dil, mimari" gibi anahtar kelimelerle taranan tezler sonucunda, mimarlık ve edebiyat ilişkisinin yalnızca mimarlık ve edebiyat alanlarında değil farklı sosyal disiplinler tarafından da ele alındığı görülmüştür. Disiplinler arası araştırmalara farklı perspektiflerden katkı koyan, yeni araştırmalara alan açan bu irdeleme makale kapsamında mimarlık disiplini ve mimarlık kavramları ile mimarlık alanına sunduğu/sunacağı imkânlarla ele alınmaktadır. Makale kapsamında ulaşılan 125 adet tez çalışması mekânı ele alma ve kullanma, mekânın anlamını yeniden üretme potansiyelleriyle tartışılırken, bu iki alanın bilgisinin hangi edebi eserler, hangi edebiyatçılar, edebiyat alanında hangi kavramlarla ele alındığının değerlendirmesini de ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır.