From Formal to Substantive Equality: Constitutional Foundations of Women's Political Rights in Uzbekistan

This article examines the constitutional framework governing women's political rights in Uzbekistan following the constitutional reform adopted by national referendum on 30 April 2023. Drawing on formal-legal and comparative-legal methods, the study identifies three levels of constitutional regulation — a general anti-discrimination standard (Article 19), a special provision on the equality of women and men (Article 58), and functional norms on political rights (Articles 36–40) — and argues that the reform secured a qualitative shift from formal to substantive equality. The analysis demonstrates that the 2019 Law on Guarantees of Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men, read together with the revised Article 58, constitutionalises the state's positive obligation to ensure real equality, thereby strengthening the stability of the electoral quota system. Comparative data confirm the effectiveness of this construction: the forty-percent nomination standard and the thirty-eight-percent representation outcome place Uzbekistan among the leaders of the Central Asian region. At the same time, quantitative gains must be interpreted with caution in light of the distinction between descriptive and substantive representation, and the sustainability of this progress depends on further institutional, procedural, and constitutional development.

Women's political rights, Constitution of Uzbekistan, gender equality

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