The Single-Member District System: The Hidden Bonus for Notables

Abstract

It was not until the mid-twentieth century that women in France finally earned the right both to vote and to run for office (Ordinance of April 21,1944), while men had enjoyed such rights for nearly a century (since 1848). Although women had no trouble learning to slip a ballot paper into the ballot box, exercising their right to elected office has proven problematic. In France, more than elsewhere, the parliamentary representation of women has been filtered through political parties. Social selection, an inherent effect of election contests, has acted to their detriment, as it does for young politicians and members of the working class.