Who are the Women? Where are the Women? And What Difference Can They Make? Effects of Gender Parity in French Municipal Elections

In June 2000, France passed a new law requiring ‘parity’ — an equal number of male and female candidates — for most elections. The law was applied to municipal elections in March 2001, Senate elections in September 2001, and legislative elections in June 2002. This article describes the sources of resistance to parity, and its eventual passage into law, before examining the effectiveness of the law in terms of women's place in politics. It focuses on local elections, where the parity law has had the greatest impact. Using an original sample survey of candidates, it examines the characteristics of the women and men who ran for office under parity. Despite achieving virtually identical levels of representation in local councils in France, this research points to lingering marginalization of women to lower and traditionally ‘feminine’ areas of political responsibility. And while there are some important demographic differences between the men and women who ran for local election under parity rules, the findings show that female candidates were at least as likely as male candidates to be recruited from among local elites. Nevertheless, female and male candidates appear to hold a distinctive set of perspectives on politics, suggesting that parity holds some promise for democratic renewal and policy change, at least at the local level. A key factor shaping women's distinctive political perspectives is the priority they place on family responsibilities. Women's previous exclusion from the public sphere, as well as their hesitancy to make a career out of politics, may explain their higher level of support for greater socio-cultural diversification among political actors.