Leader’s reaction to exogenous political shocks breaks the path: changes in Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s leadership traits after the e-memorandum and AKP closure cases

ABSTRACT Personality approaches suggest that who the leader is crucial to adequately understanding the conjuncture and historical dynamics in studying politics. In thisagent-centred perspective, personal traits and leadership styles play significant roles in shaping a leader’s policy-making process. This article provides a chance to get inside the personal ‘black-box’ of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, one of the most influential political figures in the history of the Republic of Turkey, in questioning who he is affects how he makes political decisions and how he reacts to institutional and situational constraints, such as e-memorandum and party closure case of the AKP. Reflecting the detailed results of systematic and comparative research, this article also empirically broadens the literature about Turkish leaders and provides a theoretical contribution to international leadership studies by highlighting the effects of a Turkish leader’s traits and styles on the domestic policy orientations in Turkey.