Women’s Representation and Participation in Politics in Uzbekistan from 1991 to 2023

Year 2025, Issue: 113, 27 - 52

Meral Balcı

https://doi.org/10.12995/bilig.11302

Abstract

Uzbekistan had a new Constitution, and a series of laws were enacted after the proclamation of independence in 1991. The functioning of the new state in a democratic way was organized according to these laws. In this study, it was investigated whether the laws enacted had influence on women’s participation and representation in politics along with democracy, and if so, in what ways they were applied. As the method of the study, a descriptive design with semi-structured interviews and document analyses was applied to obtain data for the triangulation of a mixedmethod
approach. The current situation and dynamics regarding women’s participation and representation in politics were explored by analysing original governmental documents related to Uzbek Constitution and by conducting semi-structured interviews with 9 Uzbek citizens. As the results exhibited, it was seen that women in Uzbekistan were represented in the politics as mentioned in the laws. However, as the data analysis indicated the so-called representation and participation of women in Uzbekistan remained on the surface level. Depending on the reported results, it could be stated that the presentation and participation were limited and not efficient and actively implemented in the real-life context.

Keywords

Uzbekistan, constitution, law, women, representation, participation, politics

1991’den 2023’e Özbekistan’da Kadınların Siyasette Temsili ve Katılımı

Abstract

Özbekistan›ın yeni bir Anayasası vardı ve 1991›de bağımsızlığının ilanından sonra bir dizi yasa çıkarıldı. Yeni devletin demokratik bir şekilde işleyişi bu yasalara göre örgütlendi. Bu çalışmada,
çıkarılan yasaların kadınların demokrasiyle birlikte siyasete katılımı ve temsili üzerinde etkili olup olmadığı ve eğer öyleyse hangi yollarla uygulandığı araştırılmıştır. Çalışmanın yöntemi olarak, karma yöntem yaklaşımının üçgenleştirilmesi için veri elde etmek amacıyla yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler ve belge analizleri içeren tanımlayıcı bir tasarım uygulanmıştır. Kadınların siyasete katılımı ve temsil edilmesine ilişkin mevcut durum ve dinamikler, Özbek Anayasasına ilişkin orijinal hükümet belgeleri analiz edilerek ve 9 Özbek vatandaşıyla yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler yapılarak incelenmiştir. Sonuçlar ortaya çıktıkça, Özbekistan›daki kadınların yasalarda belirtildiği gibi siyasette temsil edildiği görülmüştür. Bununla birlikte, veri analizinde belirtildiği gibi, Özbekistan›da kadınların sözde temsili ve katılımı yüzey seviyesinde kalmıştır. Rapor edilen sonuçlara bağlı olarak sunum ve katılımın sınırlı olduğu, etkin olmadığı ve gerçek hayat bağlamında aktif olarak uygulandığı ifade edilebilir.

Keywords

Özbekistan, anayasa, hukuk, kadin, temsiliyet, katilim, politika

Ethical Statement

An ethics approval letter was obtained from Westminster International University in Tashkent on April 5, 2023 (RO/06-01-0056) for the implementation of the interviews in accordance with the principles of qualitative research, and the study was carried out in accordance with the principles of social sciences. The written informed consent of the people we interviewed was obtained to record the information given in writing and to publish the information in the article, and they took part in the study by stating their names without specifying their surnames.

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