POLITICAL REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN AND QUOTA DEBATES IN TURKEY
TÜRKİYE’DE KADINLARIN SİYASAL TEMSİLİ VE KOTA TARTIŞMALARI

Author : Gökhan GÖKULU
Number of pages : 347-370

Abstract

Reflections and implementations of proposed quota applications in order to increase the number of female representatives in local and general politics, which is one of the most significant indicators of women’s active participation to politics, is one of the phenomena to be examined in the name of ensuring gender equality in politics within the forthcoming process in Turkey. This study examines the problem of achieving a quantitatively appropriate representation of women in decision-making mechanisms, which is an important dimension of women’s active participation in the political life in Turkey. It will be discussed how women are represented in political system on a national and local level by understanding it in terms of descriptive representation in this study. After delineating representation of women in political life regarding the descriptive representation in Turkey, the study will analyze quota applications in Turkey. The quota debates, in which different sides offer different solutions, give us a fascinating glimpse into the current status of women in Turkish public opinion. After scrutinizing the socio-cultural factors that currently diminish women's participation in decision-making processes, Turkey’s position in world in terms of women’s representation and the under-representation of women in national and local government units will be introduced. The idea advocating the quota applications state that female politicians and female leaders would be directed to policies, which would enable women to reach the equal social positions with a gender-sensitive approach and would allow for more applications, which would eliminate the inequality in opportunity that caused women to remain behind. The study will analyze the impact of the process of full membership in the European Union, combined with that of the local civil society organizations, in driving the relative increase of rates of women in the parliament in 2007 and 2011 general elections. Lastly, the study will examine both how the quota rules, which were implemented to increase the rate of the representation of women in political life, were generated and various discussions related with the topic.

Keywords

Representation of Women in Politics, Gender Quotas, Political Participation, Turkey.

Read: 592

Download: 189