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Starting in the 19th century the Ottoman Empire's governing structure slowly transitioned and standardized itself into a Western style system of government, sometimes known as the Imperial Government. Mahmud II initiated this process following the disbandment and massacre of the Janissary corps, at this point a conservative bureaucratic elite, in the Auspicious Incident. A long period of reform known as the Tanzimat period started, which yielded much needed reform to the government and social contract with the multicultural citizens of the empire.
Grand Vizier received de jure equivalent powers to Prime Ministers. In 1864, provincial reform was undertaken by standardizing administrative divisions into vilayets, with a governor assigned to each vilayet. Law was codified during the late Ottoman Empire, with various systems given legitimacy: including Sharia, secular law, Code Napoleon, and various other laws derived from the millets
.
Constitution
Main article:
31 March Incident, when reactionaries rose up in Constantinople and forced the parliament to accept its demands. However the uprising was crushed by the Action Army, which restored the constitution and the status quo. In addition to Abdul Hamid's deposition, the Constitution was also modified to strengthen the powers of the lower house: the Chamber of Deputies. The Constitution was de facto suspended following the take over of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) dictatorship in 1913
The Ottoman Empire was a bicameral system, with a lower house, the popularly elected Chamber of Deputies, and an upper house, the Senate, whose members were appointed by the Sultan.. Collectively, both chambers were known as the General Assembly. After the 31 March Incident in 1909, the constitution was amended to delegate the popularly elected lower house: the Chamber of Deputies, more powers over the Senate and the Monarchy.
All registered males above the age of 25 were allowed to vote in a two-stage elections, where they first voted for a representative who would go on to vote for a deputy. The Ottoman Empire's first election was held in 1876, and its second in 1877, both of which lacked political parties. With the end of the First Constitutional Era came 34 years of direct rule by Yıldız Palace.
The elections held following the 1908 revolution were the first elections in Ottoman and Turkish history to feature political parties. The two major parties during the Second Constitutional Era was the
Union and Progress Party (the CUP's parliamentary group) and the Freedom and Accord Party (as well as its predecessor: the Liberty Party). Though both were ideologically Young Turks parties, the Unionists desired a centralized Turkish-dominated Ottoman state, while the Itilafists desired decentralization and federalization. In addition, many ethnic political parties also existed, but most were banned after the passage of a law banning ethnic parties. Some ethnic parties like the Dashnaktsutyun
(Armenian Revolutionary Federation) held a strong alliance with the CUP, and continued to participate in Ottoman politics until 1915. Most governments between 1908 and 1918 were formed by the CUP.
Central government
The House of Osman
Main article:
House of Osman
How the monarchy exercised its power in the Empire's twilight days depended on the context. Sultan
The Sublime Porte is a synecdoche to refer to the Ottoman government, a complex of buildings where the Grand Vizier and his cabinet was based. The Minister of War and Navy used to be picked by the Sultan instead of the Grand Vizier. However, in the early months of the Second Constitutional Era, Abdul Hamid, under pressure by the CUP was stripped of this privilege, and all cabinets seats were chosen by the Grand Vizier in 1908. During Mehmed Talaat Pasha's premiership, the office of Sheykh-ul-Islam was detached from the cabinet.
As a goal of the Tanzimat reforms was standardization and centralization, the millets of the empire lost much of their autonomy. However, during the 19th century, many of the Christian Millets were quick to import Western systems of governance and political participation in their societies. The Armenian Millet promulgated a constitution and opened the Armenian National Assembly 14 years before the Ottoman government.