ABSTRACT

This paper assesses the substantive representation of women through parliamentary speeches in Turkey with the goal of determining whether legislative behavior differs across gender. By using content analysis of parliamentary speeches given in the Turkish Grand National Assembly between 2002 and 2011, this paper evaluates who speaks more often and on which policy areas they focus. More specifically, it examines the relative participation of women as well as the subjects they choose to address. The analysis of Turkish case is important not only to further our understanding of Turkish politics but also to improve our understanding of women in parliaments with low gender parity. The results reveal that, although there is no significant difference between female and male legislators in terms of the total speeches they delivered, gender differences exist regarding the policy preferences of MPs, even after controlling for partisan, constituency and institutional factors. Female legislators are more likely than their male colleagues to prefer speaking about women’s equality issues, children and family issues, and education. In contrast to previous findings, female legislators are as likely as male legislators to prioritize speaking on health care issues.

摘要

本文通过土耳其议会演讲评估了女性的实质性代表性，目的是确定立法行为是否因性别而异。本文通过对 2002 年至 2011 年土耳其大国民议会的议会演讲进行内容分析，评估谁的发言频率更高以及他们关注哪些政策领域。更具体地说，它考察了女性的相对参与度以及她们选择解决的主题。对土耳其案例的分析不仅对我们进一步了解土耳其政治很重要，而且还可以提高我们对性别平等低的议会中女性的理解。结果显示，虽然女性和男性立法者在他们发表的演讲总数方面没有显着差异，国会议员的政策偏好存在性别差异，即使在控制党派、选区和制度因素之后也是如此。女议员比男同事更喜欢谈论女性平等问题、儿童和家庭问题以及教育。与之前的调查结果相反，女性立法者和男性立法者一样有可能优先就医疗保健问题发表意见。