Electorally Threatening Women? Understanding Gender Quotas in the French Socialist Party

Bibliographic Data

ID6409256
AuthorsKatherine A R Opello (City University of New York, corresponding author)
Year2006
Volume28
Issue1
Pages9-34
Publication date2006-04-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueWomen & Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0195-7732 • E-ISSN: 1540-9473
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1300/j501v28n01_02
OpenAlexW2110096975
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited20

Almost three decades ago, the French Socialist Party (PS) adopted a quota for women in the party leadership and for female candidates, and in the ensuing 25 years, the quota was increased and implemented at various times. The history of the PS' s gender-based quota raises the following questions: Why do party leaders adopt gender quotas at one time, increase quotas at another, and implement them in some elections, but not in others? In other words, how can we account for the decisions of political actors? This work seeks to answer these questions by examining the demands and actions of PS feminists. It shows that party women demanded gender quotas and frequently backed up their demands with ideational and electoral arguments that often appealed to male party officials. However, the success of these proposals did not depend on the ability of Socialist women to make convincing arguments; rather it depended on the presence of male party officials who had electoral incentives to support them. This work thus underscores the importance of taking party officials' electoral incentives into consideration when analyzing women's political representation. KEYWORDS: Gender-based quotaFrench Socialist Partyparty feministselectoral incentives

Economics · Incentive · Market economy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Representation (politics · Sociology · Work (physics · French Historical and Cultural Studies · Gender Politics and Representation · Historical Gender and Feminism Studies · Law · Public Administration

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