ABSTRACT
The passage of the parity law and the principle of men and women sharing 50/50 in the political sphere in France seems perfectly revolutionary. Parity was expected to produce a remarkable advance in women's access to politics, and to vault France out of second-to-last position in Europe for the number of women elected to national politics. The parity law has applied to municipal elections held in March 2001, Senate elections held in September 2001, and legislative elections held in June 2002. While the application of the parity law to municipal elections is fairly strict, there remain a number of shortcomings. Parity applies only in departments where Senators are elected using a party list system of proportional representation. The impact of parity in legislative elections was underwhelming. The impact of quotas on women's access to political office varies widely depending on the electoral methods applied.
