THE SOCIAL CONTRACT AND POPULISM FROM THE OTTOMAN STATE TO THE REPUBLIC

The concept of the modern state, based on the social contract theory in the context of popular sovereignty on which it is based, regards the individual as a political subject, unlike classical political philosophy. In Ottoman thought, the concept of the social contract and the transformed notion of the people, especially when mentioned alongside the Constitutional Monarchy, are the basis of legitimacy in the process leading to the nation-state. This article deals with the perception and the effects of the concept of the people and populism, starting with Ottoman thinkers, which emerged as the source of legitimacy of sovereignty in the context of the social contract. This paper evaluates how the people who were granted transcendental attributes in the Second Constitutional Monarchy, were transformed, right after theNational Struggle, to having to be trained to the true path in the context of sovereignty.