Compare and Contrast on the United States and Turkey on Religion, Politics, Social Behavior and Economic Development - Essay Example

? Compare and Contrast on the United s and Turkey on Religion, Politics, Social Behavior and Economic development 25 September 2012 The United States and Turkey are two countries with substantial similarities and differences that affect both on a large scale both directly and indirectly concerning their social, political, religious and economic aspects. In relation to this, it is crucial to compare and contrast between the two countries to come up with aspects from which one can learn. Religion The religious organization of the United States of America is one of the most diverse in the world since the 21st century. This is due to the existence of at least a dozen different religions in the country with affiliations from all members of the American society. In light of this, the American adult population can be grouped into more than then twelve, earlier stated, religious traditions. In turn, this can be divided into hundreds of religious groups with distinct followings and values from the same American population. Studies show that over 70% of the American population is affiliated with one form or another of the Christian religion, while 5% are affiliated with other major and minor world religions, and the remainder is not affiliated with any religious group whosoever (The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 2008). With this in mind, the largest Christian population belongs to protestant groups with roughly a slight population of over 50%. However, this only applies to the adult domain, thus leaving out children and a significant population of the American youth. In addition, despite having a majority, Protestantism is not homogenous religious practice among American as it is divided into three distinct groups. These include evangelical protestants, mainline protestants and historically black protestants with roughly 26%, 18% and 7% respectively, of the population following (The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 2008). In addition, the protestant religious organization comprises of diverse denominational affiliations, such as Baptists, Methodists and Pentecostal that work in an integrated manner with the three main divisions of Protestantism. Other than this, the non-protestant population of the Christians falls under Catholicism accounting for roughly 24%. This is while; there exist Mormon groups and Jehovah’s Witnesses, as well as Orthodox churches. Other religious groups in the USA include Jews, Buddhist and Muslims, as well as other world religions such as Hinduism and Zoroastrians. The rest of the population remains unreligious, which is unlike the religious organization of the Republic of Turkey. Unlike the united states of America where one can practice whatever religion they find appealing, the Republic of Turkey is widely dominated by the Islamic religion that cover the largest population in the country. In this regard, religiously, one’s religion has been a requirement to be stated on one’s identity card. This was until the year 2006 when the provision was scraped to rid the country of religious discrimination despite making it optional for it to be stated, according to the cardholder’s wish. In addition, Turkey’s religious organization differs from the America organization in that it is widely Islamic and follows both religion and the voice of reason to govern it. Demographically, 90% of the Muslim population, with most of them being Sunni is just like the rest of the world (Oktem, 2002). This might be the only religious similarity the USA and Turkey have, as most of the Muslims in the US, are also Sunni Muslims. Other Islamic groups in the country include Kars and those of the Shia sect, as well as Alevis. The only difference between the groups is the values and religious rituals to which they subscribe. Other religious groups include Jews and Christians, who are then divided into different groups, which are, unlike the American ones. This is because most of them are orthodox, only that they are categorized according to the country of origin, such as Armenian, Syrian, and Greek. Social The Turkish society draws its organization from the history of the Ottoman Empire ad follows its history into present times. Having drawn its social organization from this, it also borrowed from the widely practiced religion of Islam to create a national religion and use it to govern the country’s affairs. Socially, there are restrictions to which members of the society can participate in, and the consequences of violation. This is concerning social values and virtues, as well as expectations. Despite the presence of such social guidelines, discrimination of minority populations is common due to issues of ethnicity and secular sensitivities (Bozan et al, 2009). This is as seen in cases where one airs his or her views publicly resulting in marginalization of certain population in the country such as dark skinned people in a white Turkish realm, which has resulted in white supremacy issues. Similar cases are common in the United States of America, where white supremacist undermine the presence of diverse racial composition of the American society. The above particularly occurred in the 20th century with the violation of African American rights under public scrutiny. In both countries, exclusion of certain populations is common, and the only difference comes in with the correction of the said issues. This is because discrimination and exclusion, racial, ethnic and of other forms have been overtly dealt with in the USA to see justice for citizens and residents in the country. However, Turkey is struggling to rid its society of these vices by reforming different sectors of the society especially those that deal with secular identities (Bozan et al, 2009). Acceptance of cultural, ethnic and religious diversity in turkey is a new concept that is yet to be embraced by the society leading to differences. Political Turkey is a country with a distinct political system that does not match others that are found in other Muslim countries, states or nations. This is concerning the association of Islam, westernization and politics. In this case, Turkey makes use of policies that differentiate between religion and political issues unlike other Muslim nations that follow divine interpretation of Islamic religion to direct governance and internal policy (Okten, 2002). Following this information, Turkey has a constitution that separates the two issues and embraces democracy in political leadership while, at the same time, respecting the boundary between religion and state. With this in mind, turkey is a secular state. In addition, the country’s legal framework is guided by the constitution, which is also the establisher and acts as a guideline for Turkey as a unitary and centralized state. The president is the head of state with a significantly ceremonial role and is elected every five years through direct elections. However, executive power is vested in the prime minister and the council of ministers who makes up the government of the country, moreover, the prime minister is elected through parliament and is commonly from the party with the most seats in parliament. In regard to the legislative power, the unicameral parliament, and the Grand National Assembly of Turkey carries the responsibility, and members of parliament are elected for four-year terms and are the equivalent of members of congress in the US despite being bicameral with representatives chosen through direct election. On the other hand, the judiciary is independent of the executive or legislature making it an entity on its own charged with delivery of justice. The constitutional court is charged with the responsibility of ruling over conformity of laws dealing with the constitution and their compatibility. The highest court is the Council of State, which is equivalent to the Supreme Court in the United states concerning seniority. However, it is charged with the responsibility of resolving administrative cases, with the high court of appeal being its successor for all other cases. On the other hand, the united states follows a constitution that is independent of religion, and with no interference whatsoever. This is in contrast to the Turkish system, and the constitution directs three separate, independent and equal arms of government namely the legislature, executive and the judiciary (The Constitution Project, n.d.). In this case, the arms of government are similar in both countries while the practice of democracy in politics is a practice enjoyed in both countries. However, the success of democracy in the USA is different from that of Turkey in that the American is based on the separation of powers between the three arms while the Turkish is based on separation of religion from state affairs (Cemal, 2007). Despite independence of the judicial system, the political organization of the country allows for some arms, such as congress and state legislators to have direct authority over courts. However, the use of this authority is limited due to the rule of law and constitutional provisions. Unlike the Turkish government system, the country is made up of state, county, municipal and township governments (Evans et al, 2002). The largest is the federal government led by the president who is elected every four years. Economic In relation to economic development, both the United States and Turkey invest substantially in their military. For this reason, the military has a considerable amount of influence in politics of the country and economy both directly and indirectly (Ozdemmir, 2009). Both economies are based on big spending where finances are kept in circulation. In this regard, both countries keep a close guard of three aspects to drive their economies: economic policies, governance, and foreign policies. These three determine trade affiliations with other countries globally and the suitability of doing business in each country. In addition, foreign policies determine regional security and the potential impact it has on economic development thus, economic cooperation with neighbors is a priority for both countries to create wealth for sustainable development (Celik and Naqvi, 2007). The only difference between the two economies is the financial power that each country holds and the Gross Domestic Product. This is because; the United States have the highest GDP in the world, while Turkey has a modest income on the average, upper scale (Dincer, 2011). In conclusion, the United States and Turkey are two countries with substantial similarities and differences that affect both on a large scale both directly and indirectly. This is concerning their social, political, religious and economic aspects making them independent entities from which, one can learn a lot especially on diversity in religion, social and political organization. References Ozdemir, S. (2009). Why I Think US and Turkey have Similarities. Retrieved from http://senayozdemir.blogspot.com/2009/04/why-i-felt-home-in-us-part-4.html Celik, P. & Naqvi, L. (2007). Turkey: Current and Future Political, Economic, and Security Trends. Retrieved from http://www.cdfai.org/PDF/Turkey%20Current%20and%20Future%20Political%20Economic%20and%20Security%20Trends.pdf Dincer, K. (2011). Partnering to Leverage Skills to Manage Change. Retrieved from https://www-950.ibm.com/events/wwe/grp/grp012.nsf/vLookupPDFs/2%20-%20Kivanc%20Dincerv2/$file/2%20-%20Kivanc%20Dincerv2.pdf Bozan, I. et al (2009). Being Different in Turkey: Religion, Conservatism and Otherization. Retrieved from http://www.aciktoplumvakfi.org.tr/pdf/tr_farkli_olmak.pdf The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life (2008). U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. Retrieved from http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/report-religious-landscape-study-full.pdf Evans, D. et al (2002). Government Organization. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/gc021x1.pdf The Constitution Project (n.d.). Ten Principles for Preserving Courts’ Role in American Democracy. Retrieved from http://www.constitutionproject.org/pdf/Judicial_Independence_Principles.pdf Oktem, N. (2002). Religion in Turkey. Retrieved from http://www.law2.byu.edu/lawreview/archives/2002/2/Okt10.pdf Cemak, K. (2007). Turkey: Islam and Laicism Between the Interests of State, Politics, and Society. Retrieved from http://www.hsfk.de/downloads/prif78.pdf Read More