Narrative Power in Electoral Autocracies: Policy Narrative Behind the Unlikely Success of the Turkish Pension Movement

How did a pension movement construct its narrative around retirement age policy, shaping its structure and content to influence change within the framework of electoral autocracy. This article delves into the campaign of the Turkish pension movement, a single-issue movement self-identifying as “people stuck in the retirement age barrier” [emeklilikte yaşa takılanlar (EYT) in Turkish)], to analyze policy narratives in an electoral autocratic context. Employing the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF), this exploratory study dissects the Turkish pension movement’s policy narrative through an examination of nearly 2,100 tweets posted between 2020-2023. It shows how, in 280 characters, the movement challenged the long-established retirement age limit that was introduced in 1999. The article reveals that the EYT movement positions itself as the hero, using a victim-centered injustice narrative with the villain often left vague, likely to preserve dialogue with the government. Members of parliament and opposition parties are frequently cited as allies, reflecting the movement’s strategic engagement with electoral politics. Additionally, the movement emphasizes diffused benefits of the moral of its narrative, portraying it as benefiting a broader constituency than it actually does. This study enhances the NPF literature on electoral autocracies by demonstrating how non governmental actors construct influential narratives.