Participation of deaf people in the Lithuania's political life

Straipsnyje aptariamas kurčiųjų dalyvavimas Lietuvos politiniame gyvenime. Nors paskutiniaisiais metais kurtieji asmenys tampa vis labiau pastebimi visuomenėje, vis dėlto praktiniai pastebėjimai parodė, kad dėl menko švietimo jiems vis dar sunku įsilieti į Lietuvos politinį gyvenimą. Remiantis išnagrinėta moksline literatūra, straipsnyje pateikiama politinio dalyvavimo sampratų, formų ir tipologijų įvairovė, taip pat pristatomas institucinis mechanizmas, palaikantis ir skatinantis kurčiųjų asmenų dalyvavimą politiniame gyvenime, apžvelgiami empirinio tyrimo su gestų kalbos vertėjų centrų direktoriais rezultatai.Participation of deaf people in Lithuania's political life. Although in recent years deaf people have become more visible in society, practical observations show that due to the low level of education and sign language, deaf people still experience difficulties in integration into Lithuanian political life. The article analyses these issues: what kind of state institutions do promote and support deaf people in the country's political life? What conditions and factors could ensure equal participation of deaf people in the political life? In the first part of the article based on analysed scientific literature, the variety of the concepts of political participation, forms and typologies are provided. The second part briefly presents the institutional mechanism that supports and encourages participation of deaf people in the political life, including a special role of sign language interpreter's centres as an intermediate body between the deaf community and the state. The article also briefly introduces the research methodology, the analysis and interpretation of the results. The empirical research has shown that the head officers of the centers of sign language interpreters relate participation of the deaf people in the political life to the model of the deaf as a weak person's behaviour that was formed during the Soviet period, the lack of education of this group of people and unavailability of information for deaf people. In order to improve conditions of participation of deaf people in politics, the promotion of institutional cooperation, the increased number of interpreters as well as creation of conditions which would empower deaf people to raise their level of education, to develop their positive self-esteem and the promulgation of information about these group into society are needed