Gender Quotas, Parity Reform, and Political Parties in France

France is notorious for the underrepresentation of women in its halls of politics. Having been unsuccessful at implementing quotas for female candidates-unlike several of their European neighbors-France passed a gender parity law in 2000 that required all political parties to field an equal number of male and female candidates. Yet in the 2002 elections the main political parties fell well short of nominating equal numbers of male and female candidates. How did parity replace gender quotas as the preferred way to achieve greater representation for women in elected office? Why have these gender-based measures been embraced by some parties and not others? And, why do parties sometimes fail to implement quotas and parity? Gender Quotas, Parity Reform, and Political Parties in France considers this transition from quotas to parity, providing a history of French women's rights and the French electoral process, as well as an examination of the roles of the Socialist and Gaullist political parties. Compelling and clearly written, Opello has created a work that bridges an existing gap in literature about contemporary France and will appeal to scholars of gender, politics, and France.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Explaining French Women's Political Representation Chapter 3 Socialist and Gaullist Ideas Chapter 4 Electoral Incentives Chapter 5 Women's Groups Chapter 6 Party Women Chapter 7 Conclusion

About the Author :
Katherine A. R. Opello is assistant professor of political science at Hollins University.

Review :
Katherine Opello's fine study tackles two of the most puzzling questions about French politics– why strong legislation on gender parity for elected office was passed in 1999 and 2000, and why this legislation produced such unimpressive results in the elections that followed. Her analysis of both of these questions tells us a great deal about French politics, and about the relationship between legislation and its implementation. This is an excelent, informative, brief volume on the impact of the French legislature's recent decisions on women's representation. . . . Opello does a superb job explaining the historical and ideological reasons why the French legislature has lagged behind all other in Western Europe. . . . Highly recommended. In contrast to other works on gender quota...Opello inquires how women mobilizedinside each political party, and also-something that is much less known- how Gaullist women mobilized for gender quotas. Gender Quotas is a must-read for students of France and gender politics issues. It provides a trenchant analysis of how and to what end the Socialist and Gaullist parties responded to women's movement demands and took on parity reform. Opello does an outstanding job of chronicling the reform process inside the parties and of assessing its impact on women's representation in France.