ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the role that women in politics have played in advancing women’s rights. Women have traditionally been excluded from high-ranking positions in both government and politics. Relative to the total population and to the composition of the government as a whole, women cannot be considered adequately represented or well integrated into politics. The poll underscored the importance of age and education in the formation of attitudes, especially as they related to women in politics. There were no women ministers in President Charles de Gaulle’s Cabinet; nor were there women state secretaries until his last year in office, when he appointed one woman to share a state secretarial position with a man. The continued expansion and implementation of women’s rights can best be ensured by women themselves; and if past performance is an indication of future progress, women in roles of executive political leadership will undoubtedly be instrumental in the creation of a more equal society.
