France’s Senate will soon consider a constitutional amendment that would “favor equal access by men and women” to elected office.
Constitutional scholar Guy Carcassonne has reported that the vaguely-worded amendment would most likely result in the passage of laws which would limit the percentage of a party’s male or female candidates to 60 or 70% or deny federal funds to parties that do not act to redress pervasive gender imbalances.
Advocates argue that the amendment is long overdue in a country where women represent 56.9% of the work force, but only 10.6% of the country’s legislative seats. Critics of the amendment charge that it would force the creation of strict quotas that are incompatible with French republican ideals.
