A quantitative analysis on the dynamics of the substantive representation of women in Turkish politics

The main aim of the study is to reveal women's substantive representation dynamics based on public opinion and system in Turkye and to generalize on the political representation of women making a comprehensive and systematic analysis over the case of Turkey. The theoretical background and main problematic of the study focus on the debates made within the framework of the qualitative representation model. Most of these debates are based on the link between women's rights and women's descriptive and substantive representation. This study argues that the interaction of gender, political ideology, religiosity, political elite messages, and sex role stereotypes are associated with the level of substantive representation and success of women, and empirically tests this argument. Within the scope of the study, two original datasets have been generated in order to present the institutional and public-opinion oriented determinants of the substantive representation of women. In this regard, firstly, the private members bills (5000) which were introduced during the 22nd, 23rd and 24th legislative terms of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) were examined. Later, these bills were coded using the Comparative Policy Agendas framework which originated in the United States and later adapted to various other countries. In this way, it has been revealed how active or passive different political parties are in terms of the substantive representation of women. In the second stage, a face to face survey with 2700 respondents across Turkey was conducted by KONDA research and consulting company. The analyzes made in the empirical part of the study support the main argument of the dissertation. Women deputies draw a more active profile in policies towards women compared to male deputies. It appeares that party ideologies are also highly determinant on women's substantive representation. On the other hand, the findings obtained from the analysis of public opinion show that the level of religiousness of the voters has an effect on the idea of women's much more political engagement and this effect changes depending on the parties preferences. It is empirically demonstrated that the discourses of the party elites that emphasize the traditional roles of women and the prejudices of the society towards gender negatively affect the political representation of women. Keywords: Turkey, Women, Substantive Representation, Gender, Democracy