section_path: Government and politics
section_name: Government and politics
paragraph_text: Government and politics
  
  Turkey is a presidential republic within a multi-party system. The current constitution was adopted in 1982. In the Turkish unitary system, citizens are subject to three levels of government: national, provincial, and local. The local government 's duties are commonly split between municipal governments and districts, in which the executive and legislative officials are elected by a plurality vote of citizens by district. The government comprises three branches: first is legislative branch, which is Grand National Assembly of Turkey; second is executive branch, which is the President of Turkey; and third is the judicial branch, which includes the Constitutional Court, the Court of Cassation and Court of Jurisdictional Disputes. Turkish politics have become increasingly associated with democratic backsliding, being described as a competitive authoritarian system.
  
  The Parliament has 600 voting members, each representing a constituency for a five-year term. Parliamentary seats are distributed among the provinces proportionally to the population. The president is elected by direct vote and serves a five-year term. The president cannot run for re-election after two terms of five-years, unless the parliament prematurely renews the presidential elections during the second term. Elections for the Parliament and presidential elections are held on the same day. The Constitutional Court is composed of 15 members. A member is elected for a term of 12 years and cannot be re-elected. The members of the Constitutional Court are obliged to retire when they are over the age of 65.