The gender gap in the access to politics in France and in the United States

Résumé du document

Recently, the question of women's candidature for Presidency has been very important in France and in the United States, with the candidature of Ségolène Royal of the Socialist party, applying for the Presidency of France. In fact, Arlette Laguiller was the first woman in France to be a candidate for a presidential election, but she belonged to a small party, whereas Ségolène Royal reached the second stage of the elections. Moreover, Hilary Clinton was candidate for primary elections for Presidency of the United States. If we consider the access to politics as the ability for people to access to elective functions or nominations, we can try to study the gender gap between men and women considering the access to politics, and consequently considering the work of a politician in the political scene. We can ask the question about the situation of the gender gap nowadays. Can we speak about a gender gap in the access to politics? We will first analyze the reasons for the gender gap in the access to politics and the men's circle of the political field as a barrier for women to go into. Actually we must study the long process of women's integration in the political sphere. Then we will study the different attempts to struggle against the inequality between men and women in politics. Finally, we will try to see if the gender gap does exist even now and what strategies women should use to go into the political scene. We can study this issue with two countries, France and the United States.

Extraits

[...] But the media criticize very often the masculine profile of women politician, in saying that they run out of womanhood. That is why there is another profile, a profile more feminine that women use. As examples we can think about Hilary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice or Ségolène Royal. As women, they point up their womanhood, even their families, and want to be accepted and integrated to the political scene as women. It could be a response to the media's attack about the lack of womanhood and attention to family about women politician. [...]

[...] In the American, only 27 women were governors, since 1925 when two women succeeded to their husbands. In fact, to be governor is very important for presidency. Most of the time, and in particular the last presidents, were governors before becoming President. Furthermore, women have had access to important functions like the role of Speaker of the House. In 2006, a woman is elected to the function of Speaker: Nancy Pelosi. It is a real evolution because the speaker is actually the third highest function in the state in the United States. [...]

[...] Conclusion The reasons for the gender gap in the access to politics, in the work of politician for women is due to a long process for women to conquest rights in politics. For a long time, the political scene was reserved to men and it was difficult for women to be integrated in it. Women were like excluded de facto. But in France and in the United States, in the 1990's, the issue of equality between men and women concerning the access to politics has grown. [...]

[...] To access in politics there are two possibilities: though the election or through the nomination. It is very interesting to see the difference results of proportion of women in the both possibilities in the both countries. In the United States, since Clinton, women are more integrated in the federal state in nominated functions than in elective functions. It could be thus interesting to see that politicians make the effort to include women in ministers for instance, but that political behaviours in elections have not changed. [...]

[...] But the constitutional law of the 8th of July 1999 will provoke a real change for the real equality between men and women. It permits to add in the third article of the French constitution that the law favours equal access to elective functions for men and women: loi favorise l'égal accès des hommes et des femmes aux mandats électoraux et fonctions électives”[5]. This constitutional law wanted to change the political behaviours though the instauration of the parity in the parties. For instance, in the legislative elections, the parties must not have a difference of between the men and the women. [...]