The feminization of the National Assembly experienced a historic leap in 2017, rising from 27% to 39% of elected female deputies. If some 63 women were still missing to reach absolute parity, the rate placed France, so long behind, in the top ranks in the world, when other countries, such as Germany, were falling behind.
This development originated mainly in the strategy of La République en Marche (LRM), which had not only displayed parity of female-male candidacies, but had also ensured that female candidates ran in winnable constituencies. If nothing is decided before the second round on June 19, everything seems to indicate that the upturn in 2017 should continue and that we could again experience a similar situation, or even a further increase in the number of female deputies.
With more than 44% of women candidates (compared to 42.4% in 2017), the 2022 legislative elections have never seen so many women compete, in relative value, even if fairly similar rates have been recorded for fifteen years now. These are even a third of the constituencies where the number of women candidates is greater than the number of candidates. Furthermore, the distribution of female candidates by political family confirms the lessons of the previous elections.
First, the centrist pole continues to bet on feminization, even if exact parity is not reached either by LRM – which will become Renaissance in July – (49.2% women) or by Horizons (47.3%) or the MoDem (49.5%). For the outgoing majority, the presence of women is no longer only due to the desire to provide a renewed political offer, as in 2017, but to the massive renewal of outgoing women. The studies (notably that of Etienne Ollion, The Candidates, PUF, 2021) showed that these combined the “representativity indices” : women, but also more novices in politics, less well off socially and politically than men and also, for some, members of visible minorities.
Avoid the machismo trial
Despite these specificities, the women of the majority of the ending legislature were massively reinstated, a sign that the usual advantage of the incumbent to obtain a reappointment is not the prerogative of the male sex: among the 207 incumbents invested by LRM, 102 are women. For Emmanuel Macron, it was also probably a question of avoiding fueling the trial with machismo maintained during his first five-year term, with in particular the lack of diversity in Elysian circles or among the holders of sovereign ministries. At the level of the Assembly, we also note that among the 441 outgoing candidates, 180 are women, a proportion similar to their presence in the Hemicycle.
You have 52.31% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.