Critical acts without a critical mass: The substantive representation of women in the Turkish parliament

Download
2008-07-01
Drawing upon in-depth interviews with 20 women MPs and parliamentary debates during the amendment of the Turkish Civil and Penal Codes, we elaborate on the possibility and conditions of women's impact on politics without their constituting a critical mass in the parliament. Our research reveals that when state machinery, women's machinery, and supra-national agencies have created a conducive context, as in the case of the last decade in Turkey, the substantive representation of women's issues become possible even in a political culture where women constitute only a 'skewed' group in the parliament.
PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS

Suggestions

Changing the system through instrumentalizing weak political institutions: the quest for a presidential system in Turkey in historical and comparative perspective
Aslan Akman, Canan (2017-01-01)
Since the 1990s, debates on a constitutional system reform in Turkey have ignited controversies over the executive structure of its parliamentary system. This article looks at the debate in terms of the interaction between institutional dynamics and politicians' choices, shaped by past institutional transformations following transitions. It is contended that institutional weaknesses underlying both the presidency and executive-legislative relations in Turkey have provided strong incentives for incumbent eli...
Nationalist bias in Turkish official discourse on hate speech: a Rawlsian criticism
Deveci, Cem (2019-01-01)
This article analyzes the approach in Turkey on hate speech by evaluating legal regulations, decisions and public responses. We argue that the Turkish case cultivates neither a lenient, nor a restrictive response to hate speech, because a strong nationalist bias seems to be at work in interpreting, penalizing or allowing hate speech. The peculiarity of the Turkish case stems from a prejudice that hate speech might be conducted only against the nation, unity of the state, or the principles of regime, rather ...
Questioning Perceptions and Suggestions about Violence Against Women: The Case of Women Representatives of Political Parties in GNAT in 2021
Taşcıoğlu Örs, Şule; Beşpınar Akgüner, Fatma Umut; Department of Sociology (2021-8)
Since violence against women (VAW) is reflected as one of the crucial social issues in Turkey, this study aims to investigate the perceptions of woman members of political parties which are represented in Grand National Assembly of Turkey (GNAT) towards VAW. By examining women’s discourses, the study will demonstrate the similarities and differences between female politicians in Justice and Development Party (JDP), Nationalist Movement Party (NMP), IYI Party, Republican People’s Party (RPP), and People’s De...
The ‘Tulip Revolution’ and the role of informal dynamics in Kyrgyz politics
Yandaş, Osman Gökhan; Tanrısever, Oktay Fırat; Department of International Relations (2011)
This dissertation aims to uncover the main parameters, the decisive dynamics within Kyrgyz politics not only through an examination of the socio-political context of post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, but also through an analysis of the events that came to be known as the ‘Tulip Revolution’. It examines the general and immediate contexts, course of events, dynamics and implications of the ‘Tulip Revolution’ in order to understand what kind of dynamics account for the continuing instability in Kyrgyzstan in its afterma...
Culture, Socio-Economic Development, and Refugee Immigration: A Spatial Analysis of the 2017 Referendum in Turkey
Özen, İlhan Can (MPSA Conference Proceedings; 2018-6-24)
The 2017 referendum on controversial constitutional amendments witnessed a fierce competition in Turkey. Despite the joint campaign of AK Party (current ruling party) and MHP (nationalist party), the electoral outcome yielded only a slight edge for accepting the amendments (Yes 51%, No 49%). Why was there such a narrow margin of victory? What explains the defection among MHP voters at the aggregate level? Our paper examines these questions through a unique dataset along with spatiallyautoregressive and mult...
Citation Formats
A. Ayata, “Critical acts without a critical mass: The substantive representation of women in the Turkish parliament,” PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS, pp. 461–475, 2008, Accessed: 00, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/11511/47549.