Gender parity thwarted? The effect of electoral reform on Senate and European Parliamentary elections in France, 1999-2011

This research examines recent electoral reform in French politics, and whether such reforms have served to minimize the overall impact of the earlier passage of gender parity law in 2000. As such, this is a study of how party elites often take steps to thwart any changes in the status quo that will endanger their own existing advantage or position. Specifically, we examine the increase in the number of two-round plurality districts for the Senate and the change from nationwide to regional districts for elections to the European Parliament (EP). Analysis of the 2001, 2004, 2008 and 2011 Senate elections suggests that the plurality method resulted in fewer women being elected to office, as compared with those Senate districts that used a closed-list proportional method, especially as a greater number of Senate districts began using the plurality method after the 2003 Raffarin reforms. Examining the 2004 and 2009 EP elections, we also find that the change to eight regional districts had an adverse effect on the election of female MEPs, primarily because fewer women were at the head of the regional party lists. Party proliferation in the 2004, 2008 and 2011 Senate elections also served to reduce the number of women elected in these races.