Gender parity in politics: evening-up the score ?

Abstract

On 21 October 1946, 5.6% of MPs in France’s National Assembly were women. The figure was still only 6.1% after the 1993 parliamentary elections. This puts France next-to-bottom of the EU league for women’s representation in parliament. Only Greece has managed to do worse. At the same date, the Northern European countries had achieved or bettered the critical mass of 30% of women MPs.