Refah Devletinden Düzenleyici Devlete: Bağımsız Düzenleyici Kurumlar ve Enerji Piyasası Düzenleme Kurumu

Abstract

Independent regulatory agencies proliferated globally during the final quarter of the twentieth century, engendering a profound transformation in the organizational form and functional orientation of the state. Although such agencies have existed in the United States since the nineteenth century, their worldwide diffusion is closely intertwined with the ascendancy of neoliberal accumulation. Promoted by international organizations such as the IMF, the World Bank, and the OECD, these bodies are situated within the conceptual framework of the regulatory state that emerged under the Post-Washington Consensus, and they embody a form intrinsically linked to the intensified globalization of capital in the neoliberal era. The crisis of neoliberalism in 2008, alongside recent political developments most notably Donald Trump’s return to power in the United States and his subsequent escalation of tariff barriers has likewise begun to reshape the trajectory and future prospects of regulatory agencies in conjunction with broader transformations in the globalization process. This study concentrates on the transformation engendered by independent regulatory agencies in the form of the state, and specifically in the modalities of state intervention that structure economic regulation. To elucidate this transformation, the welfare state is examined as a point of historical contrast, with the aim of demonstrating the divergence between the economic interventions characteristic of the welfare-state era and those associated with the regulatory state under neoliberalism. Accordingly, the study first analyzes the welfare state through the lens of the Regulation Approach within the context of Fordism, followed by an explication of the crisis of Fordism and the emergence of neoliberal accumulation. It then investigates the evolution of regulatory agencies within the neoliberal accumulation regime. Finally, the analysis turns to independent regulatory agencies in Turkey, with particular emphasis on the Energy Market Regulatory Authority within the electricity sector. By examining the crisis of neoliberalism and the consequent transformation of independent regulatory agencies in Turkey, the study brings its inquiry to a conclusion.