NEW MODELS OF POWER CONCENTRATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY

This article examines new models of political power concentration in the 21st century through a comparative analysis of the Russian Federation after 2000 and Turkey under the rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Using a structured, focused comparison and qualitative process tracing, the study analyses how formally democratic institutions are gradually transformed into instruments of executive dominance. The findings demonstrate that both regimes represent deliberately constructed forms of electoral and presidential autocracy rather than merely “imperfect democracies” or cases of democratic backsliding. In both cases, the erosion of political pluralism, judicial independence, media freedom, and civil society occurs through incremental and legally codified mechanisms. At the same time, the article identifies important differences in regime logic: while the Russian model is based on centralized control and depoliticization, the Turkish model relies more heavily on electoral mobilization and plebiscitary legitimacy.