In order to form an opinion on the number of laws enacted in our country since the proclamation of the Republic and the performance of the parliament in this regard, it is necessary to compare the number of laws enacted by legislative periods and years.

An examination of the data published on the Grand National Assembly of Turkiye's official website reveals that a total of 15,140 laws were enacted during the approximately 105-year period from 24 April 1920, when the Assembly enacted its first law, to the end of 2024. Of these, 7,480 were enacted during the 40-year period between 1920 and 1960, which consisted of 11 legislative periods; 375 were enacted during the interim period between 1960 and 1961; 2,267 were enacted during the 19-year period between 1961 and 1980, which consisted of 5 legislative periods; 669 during the interim period of 1980-1983; and 4,349 during the 41-year period between 1983 and 2024, which comprised 12 legislative periods.

When the legislative performance mentioned above is analysed, it can be seen that while an average of 187 laws were enacted annually between 1920 and 1960, this figure fell to an annual average of 119 between 1961 and 1980 and to an annual average of 106 between 1983 and 2024. This downward trend in the Assembly's law-making performance is also reflected in the average number of laws enacted per legislative term. Factors supporting this trend may include the natural decline in the dynamism required for the new state structure process specific to the founding years of the Republic and the implementation of a bicameral legislative process (National Assembly and Senate of the Republic) between 1961 and 1980. However, when comparing the average number of laws enacted annually between 1920 and 1960, when a single chamber was authorised to legislate, and the period from 1983 to the present day, the reasons for the dramatic decline in performance, exceeding 40 per cent, require further explanation. This situation may stem from the more widespread use of other legislation with the force of law in state administration and, in particular, from the gradual decline in the need for direct law-making in parliament following the transition to the presidential system of government in 2017.

Another noteworthy point that emerges when examining the series related to the number of laws is the extraordinary rise in the annual average number of laws enacted during the interim periods of 1960–61 and 1980–83, which was almost twice as high as the averages of other years. This situation can be attributed to the fact that, ironically, the law-making process became more practical during periods when participatory democracy faltered.