Abstract:

Islam and especially the New Islamic Social Movements (ISMs) retain their importance both in politics and in the socio-economic spheres of our life. They also play a novel role while shaping the education systems not only in Muslim countries but also in secular Western-societies. There is no doubt that as a public service, education has an important role during the creation of social capital (Putnam, 1993). For this reason these movements increased their interest on education sector in order to have their own voice during the policy making process or in other words during the creation of social capital.
Within the framework of a dissertation project, this paper will indicate firstly as a private organization the impact of the main Islamic Communities on education policy making in Turkey during the New Public Management (NPM) era and secondly the transformation of the education system from centralized system to a more decentralized network of educational governance as a result of NPM. Thus, by answering: “How possible is the involvement of the religious groups on educational policy making in Turkey, investigating the growth and influence of Public Governance at NPM age?, Why the religious groups involve in educational policy making in Turkey? and How and Why has Turkey’s Education Policy Making Process been reshaped by Islamic Social Movements?” the researcher aims to show the both socio-politic and socio-economic transformations of the country.
Additionally, the lack of analyses of public administration on Turkey in general, particularly in the international and comparative literature - a reflection of its 'anomalous' geo-political and cultural status - possibly EU entry, 'bridge to Asia' ,all that will fill the gap in the main public administration literature on Turkey. Finally, the research will provide a greater understanding of states where there are tensions between modernisation and democratisation and demands for 'traditional values'.

Keywords:

Islamic Social Movements, New Public Management, Educational Governance, Privatization, Islamisation.