Parity Democracy: Women's Political Representation in Fifth Republic France

Front Cover
UBC Press, Jul 1, 2011 - Political Science - 204 pages

In recent years, several countries have adopted measures such as candidate gender quotas to increase women's presence in electoral politics. France adopted gender parity reforms laws to ensure equal access to elected office for women and men in 1999 and 2000. What influence have these reforms had on women's political representation?

In Parity Democracy, Jocelyne Praud and Sandrine Dauphin assess the evolution of France's gender parity reforms, from their historical roots to their recent extension beyond the electoral sphere. Drawing on interviews with both parity advocates and opponents, as well as on key European and French legal documents, they show that although parity reforms have not dramatically boosted women's representation in the National Assembly, they have set in motion a process of feminization in the electoral sphere that bodes well for the future of parity democracy.

 

Contents

Introduction
1
1 French Womens Struggle for Political Rights and Parity
9
Interviews with Parity Advocates and Critics
41
Founding Documents on Gender Parity in Politics
111
Conclusion
141
Chronology of French Womens Struggle for Political Rights
147
Interview Guide
153
Notes
155
Bibliography
175
Index
185
Copyright

Common terms and phrases

access to elected activists adopted arguments Article Bachelot-Narquin cause des femmes Chapter citizens citoyennes constitutional reform decision-making deputies differentialist Edith Cresson elected assemblies elected office equal number feminism feminist movement France France’s Françoise Gaspard French Politics French women gender parity gender parity reforms Gender Quotas Geneviève Fraisse Gisèle Halimi hommes Hubertine Auclert institutions interviews Jocelyne Praud June Krook la parité legislative elections Lionel Jospin Manifesto Martine Aubry men’s equal access Michèle Alliot-Marie municipal elections National Assembly number of women Observatoire Paris paritarists parity debate Parity Democracy parity in politics parity law parity movement party lists percent political class political parties political representation political sphere politique positions president prime minister proportion of women Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin Sandrine Dauphin Ségolène Royal Senate sexes Simone de Beauvoir Simone Veil social society UFCS Varikas women candidates women in politics women’s and men’s women’s associations women’s movement women’s rights

About the author (2011)

Jocelyne Praud teaches in the Departments of Political Science at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Vancouver Island University. Sandrine Dauphin is a researcher affiliated with the Centre de recherches sociologiques et politiques de Paris, a research laboratory of the Centre national de la recherche scientifique.

Bibliographic information

TitleParity Democracy: Women's Political Representation in Fifth Republic France
AuthorsJocelyne Praud, Sandrine Dauphin
PublisherUBC Press, 2011
ISBN0774819464, 9780774819466
Length204 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Political Science / Political Process / General
Political Science / Political Process / Political Advocacy
Social Science / Gender Studies
Social Science / Women's Studies
  
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