ABSTRACT
THERE HAS BEEN A perceptible feminization of political personnel in almost all Western countries. In Germany and the Netherlands today, women make up more than 30 percent of the lower chambers of the national Parliaments. This recent feminization has been less significant in other European countries. The 1997 elections, with 18.4 percent and 10.9 percent of women in the lower chambers of the British and French Parliaments respectively, were considered victories. Since the 1970s, the Scandinavian countries have stood out as trailblazers in this area. Women accounted for 20 percent of the members of the Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish Parliaments during the 1970s and more than 30 percent in the 1980s, and their numbers have continued to rise since then. Several hypotheses might explain this success.
