Gender is a historical system of power relations that constructs roles based on biological differences and cuts vertically across all layers of public life on a global scale. This patriarchal structure shapes the state’s decision-making mechanisms and leads to the formulation of public policies around a heteronormative and class-privileged male subject. Consequently, inequality in political representation reproduces the structural inequalities experienced in social life.

This study discusses the gendered and unequal nature of the public policy process, which appears to be gender-neutral but in practice reproduces systemic inequality. The discussion is grounded in feminist theory, which argues that gender equality must be ensured not only in policy outcomes but also throughout the entire policy-making process. The central proposition is that without achieving gender equality within public decision-making mechanisms, it is impossible to produce public policies that are genuinely inclusive and equally responsive to all members of society.

The first section examines the gender composition of the formal components of public policy in Türkiye, highlighting the male-dominated character of the state’s institutional structure. The second section evaluates, within a theoretical framework, several institutional mechanisms developed to promote gender equality — such as the critical mass principle, gender quotas, and gender-responsive budgeting. Ultimately, the study asserts that the idea of “public policy for all” is not merely a normative ideal but a fundamental condition of democratic governance.