^aDepartment of Political Science, Washington University in St. Louis, Campus Box 1063, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130-4899, USA. E-mail: mlkrook@wustl.edu

Abstract

In the 1990s a movement emerged in France for the equal representation of women and men in political life. Proponents of 'parity' achieved reform of the Constitution in 1999 and the electoral law in 2000, which together require political parties to nominate 50 percent women and 50 percent men among their electoral candidates. Given the unusual set of theoretical arguments developed over the course of the campaign, many sources portray parity as a uniquely French answer to the under-representation of women in political life. I argue that the parity instead constituted a reaction to earlier failed attempts to promote women's political presence, shaped strongly by two influences from abroad — the Green movement and the Council of Europe — and one at home, the bicentennial of the French Revolution.