Rapporteur : Ms Patrizia DINI (Italy)

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

The problem of equal representation of women and men in public offices and elected functions at local and regional level was recently subject of an enquiry launched by the Congress with a view to update the information available on women's holding of political office and to analyse policies adopted to promote their involvement in politics. The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe organised therefore in 1998 a survey, in which a questionnaire was sent to public authorities at local and regional level throughout Europe. The results are presented in this report. ¹

A total of 1,005 questionnaires were sent out to European regional and local authorities, and 171 of these were completed and returned. The rate of response varied greatly from one country to another, allowing for the fact that the number of questionnaires sent to each European country also differed considerably (owing to differences between countries in the size and breakdown of tiers of government).

The information gathered by means of this survey did not, therefore, always properly reflect each state's role and importance within Europe, since the sample of respondents was entirely random and hence insufficiently representative.

Subject to these provisos, the results of the survey nevertheless make it possible to show that in Europe as a whole women's involvement in politics at the local and regional levels is still too limited - as had, moreover, already become clear at the national level.

The situation varies widely from one country to another, although everywhere the figures show a positive trend. In many cases, such as those of Italy, France and the UK, it has been possible to note considerable growth in the female presence in politics in recent years. However, countries such as Greece, Belgium, Portugal, the UK, France and Italy remain at the bottom of the European league table, and the example continues to be set by the countries of Scandinavia. Sweden, above all, but also Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands have high percentages of female holders of political office, whether parliamentary or executive, in the region of the so-called "critical" level of female representation of around 35%.

In most of the countries under consideration it can be seen that the female presence tends to be higher in local than in central government; in parliaments/assemblies than in individual positions of responsibility or executive bodies, not least because executive bodies usually have a smaller number of seats; and in the largest or most economically advantaged governmental bodies than in the smallest or economically least developed, which confirms that the urban lifestyle has a positive impact on women's involvement in politics.

The scant number of women in political office, a factor common to most of the countries under consideration, notwithstanding the noteworthy progress of recent years, comes as less of a surprise if account is taken of the fundamental lack of affirmative action in favour of women at a European level. An example of such action is application of minimum quotas, which is the most disputed measure but also the most effective means of securing a balance between the numbers of women and men.

The information derived from the survey says a great deal in this respect: overall, only 44% of the respondents confirmed that steps had been taken to promote women's political integration and gave details of the principal policies adopted to that end; in 39% of cases the reply was negative, whereas in 17% the respondent did not even answer the question (which can presumably also be regarded as a negative reply).

Furthermore, among the positive replies, it quite regularly came to light that:

- individual political parties had taken steps to make up for a lack of legislation on quotas (although they had not always adopted a system of minimum quotas);

- the most widely used means of action were information campaigns and vocational training, which shows that the equal opportunities issue has, so far, frequently not succeeded in kindling the general public's interest and, likewise, that it is widely believed that it might help the situation if women themselves were better prepared (and more motivated) to assume political office;

- lastly, measures to promote women's access to the labour market are also few in number, despite the fact that it is now recognised that such measures may be of importance to women's participation in politics, in view of the strong complementarity between the different levels at which women do in fact participate: as citizens, as workers and as political representatives.

In substance, the results of the survey clearly show that, as regards the process of establishing political equality between the sexes, the countries of Europe are at very different stages of development: culturally backward attitudes to female involvement in politics are in fact to be found alongside more mature approaches and situations where there is a high degree of gender equality.

It goes without saying that the legislative or other instruments to be implemented may vary according to the context, as the effectiveness of each means of action strictly depends upon the cultural and political background against which that action is set; in other words, measures and proposals which are valid for countries such as Norway, or even Italy or France, may be premature in other countries, such as Greece or Russia, where people are insufficiently alive to this problem. However, this does not mean that there is a predefined itinerary leading to equality between men and women, which it is mandatory for all countries to follow. In fact, today's road to equality of opportunity will necessarily be different from that of yesterday, for the very reason that knowledge of events, above all past events that took place under different circumstances, can serve as a very useful reference for the action being taken by governments and women's movements everywhere.

It can therefore unquestionably be said that in the countries of Europe there is still considerable scope for either the authorities or political parties to take action to boost women's presence in politics. The experience acquired in certain States, such as Germany, where a firm policy of combating discrimination has brought good results, has shown how important it is that "affirmative action" should encompass the broadest possible range of measures and be specifically aimed at promoting women's access to political office.

This would seem to apply, above all, to countries such as Italy and France, which, although they could rely on strong traditions of social, cultural and political democracy, had in the past not succeeded in making any progress on this front, but which have recently shown considerable motivation and energy (and at times also political will) in their efforts to make the equal opportunities principle a reality.

The draft Resolution and Recommendation submitted for vote to the Congress have been discussed by the members of the Working Group "Social Cohesion and economic development of regions" who approuved these texts. The two texts based on the recent experiences of the territorial authorities, stress the measures which could be the most adequate to contribute to create a parity in the distribution of political and decisional functions between women and men. The conclusions are addressed to governmental and regional authorities to take appropriate measures to improve the current situation. It is also proposed to make a more detailed evaluation of the measures taken at different level after the distribution of the present study.

APPENDIX

Introduction

The contents of this document are based on the results of a direct survey promoted by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, with a view to updating the available information about the holding of political office by women and about the policies adopted to encourage their participation in the various countries of Europe.

The inquiry was carried out last spring through the sending of a questionnaire to the various authorities in the different countries of Europe; five questions requiring open answers were posed, with a view to establishing:

1. whether elective office exists for political representatives at the tier of government concerned;

2. what percentage of the elected members of legislative assemblies and executive bodies of the institution are women;

3. whether the institution has available other relevant statistics relating to the other tiers of government within the country;

4. what the recent trend in female representation has been;

5. lastly, whether specific policies have been adopted nationally or locally to promote women's access to political office, and if so, what these are.

The questionnaire was answered in many European languages: in most cases, replies were in French or in English (approximately 76% of the total), but some were also received in German (22), Italian (12), Russian (7), Spanish (4) and Swedish and Flemish (1 each).

The replies to the questionnaires were also very varied: in some cases replies were short and therefore easy to process (yes or no, or figures), whereas in others, the replies were much longer and often contained references to attached documentation, in the form of reports, books, legislation, statistical tables, and so on. The latter were clearly more difficult to examine, both because of the need to translate them and because of the requirement for the information to be fitted into a single pre-defined grid.

The inquiry was divided into three phases:

Phase 1 examination of the questionnaires and insertion of information

Phase 2 quantitative analysis of the results (corresponding to the first 4 questions on the questionnaire)

Phase 3 qualitative analysis of the results (with reference to the final question on the questionnaire).

Only the results of the quantitative analysis for each separate reference country are presented in this report.

The qualitative analysis of the policies and measures pursued in the various parts of Europe to encourage women's access to political life at every tier of government will follow later.

1. General information about the survey

A total of 1,005 questionnaires were sent out to the various regional and local institutions of European countries, 171 of which were completed and returned (Table 1).

The reply rate was thus an average of 17%, although it varied widely from one country to another: the reply rate in France was highest (86%), followed by Germany (60%), Italy (46%), Portugal (43%), and Austria, Spain and Romania (33-34%).

Of course the reply rate depends on the number of questionnaires sent to each European state, which varied extremely widely, reflecting the differing scope and dispersion of administrative tiers present in the different countries: the minimum was 7 questionnaires, sent to Portugal (obviously cases where no questionnaire was sent do not count), and the maximum was 178, sent to Russia.

Table 1
THE REPLY RATE FROM THE VARIOUS EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

* In a very few cases, questionnaires were not officially sent, but were received nonetheless.

In some countries, the survey was not successful at all, to the extent that no questionnaires were replied to (Greece, Moldova, Poland, Turkey and Ukraine); in many other cases the number of questionnaires filled in was very small indeed, of the order of between one and four per country (Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland, Slovakia and Ireland being the main countries concerned).

Thus it is clear that the results of the direct survey cannot provide a complete or even a representative picture of the huge variety of situations in the institutions of Europe. Only in respect of a few states is it possible to draw from the replies submitted and/or from the attached documents the information required to obtain an overview of the holding of political office by women on a sufficiently organised and comprehensive basis, at least at regional level. There were six cases where this was possible, namely France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and Italy.

2. The significance of the survey

The significance of the survey is clear from, first of all, the percentage of members of the national legislative assemblies and governments of various European countries who are women (Table 2).

The rate of participation in political life by women still varies widely from one country to another: in many cases, such as those of Italy and the United Kingdom, it is only in recent years that a considerable growth of the female participation rate has become discernible. At the bottom of the European rankings there remain such countries as Greece, Belgium, Portugal, the United Kingdom and France (although the figures for France are much higher where the executive is concerned), as well as Italy.

Despite more recent improvements, the reference model continues to be that of Scandinavia: in Sweden, for instance, 10 out of 20 ministers are women, and 34% of the seats in parliament are held by women. In both legislative and executive functions in Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands, too, the percentage of female representation is very high. According to research conducted in northern Europe, the "critical" level of female representation is around 35%, so any level below this is to be regarded as unsatisfactory.

Table 2
PRESENCE OF WOMEN IN LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES AND GOVERNMENTS OF CERTAIN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES - Percentages

Many people believe that the strong representation of women in these countries has to be viewed in correlation with the systems of proportional representation used for elections, for the objection is raised that female candidates are handicapped in first-past-the-post systems, such as those used in France and Italy. It is true that, assuming that this obstacle does exist, there are many ways of taking action to mitigate its effects, as some experiments have shown, such as the adoption of legislation, the taking of measures, the running of information campaigns, the provision of training courses, and so on. Thus the active participation of women in the administration of public affairs may be brought back into balance with male participation.

It is against this background of the levels of women's participation in institutions at national level that the survey promoted by the CLRAE has to be viewed, as it attempts to supplement this information with data relating to decentralised tiers of government.

3. Tiers of government in the main European countries

For the purposes of this analysis of female representation in elective assemblies and in the executive bodies of local and regional authorities in Europe, it will be useful to take a rapid look at the structure of decentralised governments in the main European countries, so that the results of the direct survey can be more readily appreciated.

While considering the observations made (number of women in local government, medium-term trend, and so on) we should not fail to take account of the importance of the institution concerned among the country's institutions. Generally speaking it may be assumed that the larger the average size of the institutional level concerned, the greater its powers; however, there is no shortage of significant exceptions to this principle, bearing in mind the relationship between the French regions, newly set up and not yet very effective, and the more deeply-rooted departments, or comparing the Italian provinces with a good many large and medium-sized municipalities, which are a definitely far more spontaneous and significant point of reference for citizens.

In addition, in order to assess the statistically representative nature of the sample about which information is available, the relationship between the size of the sample itself and the total has to be borne in mind.

We shall therefore be referring to the 16 main European countries. We can, without exaggerating, reduce the structure of their local government to 3 tiers (regions, provinces or counties and municipalities), a pattern also typical of Italy.

The only substantial difference is found at the highest, the regional, level. Not only is there the difference that some countries do not have such a tier of government, but there are also very marked differences in the population sizes and powers of the various regions of Europe (Table 3: the tiers of decentralised government in Europe – Cf : [email protected]).

The regional tier

Most large European countries have a regional tier of government; the one which has the largest regions with the most extensive powers is, obviously, Germany, which has Länder with very extensive powers, and which have mean populations comparable with that of some smaller European states (5 million).

Even vaster are the parts into which the United Kingdom is divided (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland), but these are not really comparable with other European regions, being more similar to federated states. In contrast, more similar sizes of populations (2-3 million), if not powers, are found in the regions of the major Mediterranean countries (Italy and France have regions, and Spain has regional communities).

The only small European country which has regions comparable to this standard is Belgium, which is divided into three parts (Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia) particularly characterised by language differences.

The provincial tier

Practically all European countries have this tier (often known as counties), with average population sizes of between 300,000 and a million, and with powers which vary. The Swiss cantons, for example, can be included in this category, as can the Italian provinces and the English counties, similar in size, but with very different powers and institutional standing. The largest provinces of course are found in those countries which do not have a regional tier (Netherlands, Denmark, Greece and, again, the United Kingdom), while the smaller ones exist in the countries with low population densities in northern Europe, where it is nevertheless necessary to ensure that there is a sub-national tier of government.

The municipal tier

This is clearly the basic level (often referred to as "municipalities") providing direct contact between citizens and the authorities, which is why the public often attach more importance to it.

Municipalities are also extremely small in size (in France they have fewer than 2,000 inhabitants, while Spanish and Italian municipalities have between 5,000 and 7,000), particularly in those countries which have not altered the historical structure of local government. On the other hand, they are larger where recent reforms have rationalised old systems, such as in the United Kingdom, where districts are of a size in between that of local and provincial authorities.

4. The results of the separate studies of individual countries

The comments in this paragraph refer solely to information derived from the replies submitted to the questionnaires or from the documents attached to these. This means a quantitative analysis of the survey results, inevitably encompassing gaps and uncertainties, either because the sample used was not representative, or because of the extremely mixed nature of the data supplied.

The difference in the numbers of questionnaires completed in the individual European countries and the varying extent to which replies were complete and reliable shaped the comments on the findings: only in a few cases, namely those of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, has it been possible to put forward a more detailed analysis of female representation in political office; in all the other cases, in contrast, the paucity of information was such that only an account of the replies has been given (to be found in the Appendix).

BELGIUM

The results obtained from the sample of public authorities in Belgium cannot be considered sufficiently representative, as information was available only on one of the three regions into which the country is subdivided, four of its ten provinces and a single one of the 589 municipalities. The statistics attached to the questionnaires nevertheless made it possible to draw a picture of the numbers of women holding elective office at both regional and provincial levels.

Where the representative bodies on which elected representatives sit are concerned (Table 4), female participation is fairly low at federal level, with 11.3% in the Lower House (although the percentage is more than twice as high in the Senate), and, in contrast, higher in regional parliaments. The highest figure is that found in the Brussels-Capital regional parliament (29.3%), while the lowest figure is in the Walloon parliament (9.3%). Thus the differences from one region to another are fairly large, and there seems to be a direct correlation with economic development, but also, above all, with the degree of urbanisation of the various parts of Belgian territory.

Table 4

FEMALE MEMBERSHIP OF BELGIUM'S REPRESENTATIVE BODIES

With the exception of a single province, namely Namur (where the female representation is very low), the results vary little in all the other provinces, with a maximum of 30% in Vlaams Brabant and a minimum of 17.5% in Luik. Women occupy an average of 23% of the seats available in provincial parliaments (21.5% if Namur is taken into account).

If we look at the representation of women in Belgium's executive bodies (Table 5), we find further proof of the situation already described: 11.8% of the federal government comprises women, while higher percentages of between 22% and 25% are found in regional governments (few in number).

Table 5
FEMALE MEMBERSHIP OF BELGIUM'S EXECUTIVE BODIES

As we shall see, these figures go against the trend in most other European countries, with female representation declining significantly where executive roles are compared with legislative ones (also because the number of seats in executive bodies tends to be lower). The fact remains, however, that in Belgium, too, there is not a single female representative in three of the five regional governments.

So while, on the one hand, female participation in political life in Belgium at local level is higher than might be supposed in the light of the national situation, on the other hand, the regional and provincial statistics show an even lower rate of participation, or even a non-existent one, in certain geographical areas, and particularly in executive bodies.

The only available information concerning the relevant trend is that which relates to the Brussels-Capital region, showing female representation to be moving steadily upwards, from 21% in 1989 to 25.3% in 1995, the present figure being 29%. It has to be pointed out, however, that this region has the highest rate of female participation in political office. Thus there is a need to check the rate of growth in the other regions and provinces, as well, which have fewer women both in their parliaments and in their governments.

FRANCE

The survey produced full results relating to the regions of France (in fact information is available for every region of France), but the findings do not enable any comments to be made on female participation in political office at departmental level (only three of the 96 existing departments having replied).

The direct survey shows that the French regions have legislative assemblies to which members are elected, and that the average rate of female participation is 26% (434 of the 1,671 seats which exist). As the table below shows, the highest rate is found in the Ile de France region (34%), with Haute Normandie and Nord-Pas de Calais close behind (33%), followed by Languedoc-Roussillon (30%); the others all have figures ranging from 20% to 28%, except Aquitaine and Franche-Comté where the figures are 19% and 16% respectively.

One noteworthy aspect is certainly the low variation found in the figures for the French regions, especially when these are compared with those of other countries, such as Italy: the more homogeneous levels of female representation probably reflect the smaller socio-economic and cultural differences found in the various parts of France, as well as that country's long-established tradition of unitary government.

Table 6
FEMALE MEMBERSHIP OF THE REGIONAL COUNCILS OF FRANCE (1998)

Note: the figures for Corsica are not included

On the whole, there is nevertheless a positive correlation between female representation and the degree of urbanisation of the region, although there are a few exceptions.

From the interviews carried out, it was not possible to find any other information about this subject, although it was indicated in a few cases that the recent trend, which seems definitely relevant, is for female representation to have doubled over a few years and almost quadrupled over a period of about ten years (in Brittany, for example, the rate rose from 12% in 1992 to 25.3% in 1998, while the figure for the Auvergne region rose from 4.3% in 1986 to 10.6% in 1992 and, by 1998, had risen to 23.4%).

Essentially, the female representation rate in French political life is coming into line with mean European values only thanks to the progress made in recent years.

GERMANY

The information obtained through the questionnaires is not sufficiently representative of the actual situation in the regions (Länder) and districts (Kreise) of Germany. Figures for the higher tier of government are in fact available only for 5 of the 16 Länder, while only 15 replies were received from Kreise, of which there are 300 in former West Germany.

Subject to this cautionary note, however, we can say that there is a significant female representation in the parliaments of the Länder, the rate averaging around 20% of the total number of seats. The maximum rate is found in Schleswig-Holstein, where the figure is almost 39%, while the contrasting minimum value is 8.3% in Saxony. Far fewer figures are available about the mean number of women members of Landesregierungen (the governments of the Länder, members of which have ministerial status), but these are similar.

More information, but less representative of the whole, is available about districts, the tier of government below that of the Länder. Here, too, the average rate of female participation in assemblies is above 20% (23.7%, to be precise), with a fairly low degree of variation. The minimum rate is 13% (in Ludwigslust) and the maximum 34.5% (in Darmstadt-Lieburgs), while as many as 12 of the 15 figures available are close to the average of 25%. In general terms, the little information available about the past situation in the districts seems to confirm the trend - common to all countries under consideration - for female representation to increase with time; between one election and the next, the presence of women generally increases by between 6% and 9%.

An interesting detail concerning the more decentralised levels of government emerges from a close study of female representation in Baden-Württemberg: the female representation rate at Land level is not particularly high (16.7%), and even lower is the representation of women elected as members of the assemblies in 1994 in the 44 districts into which the Land is divided (13.1%). Yet it is significant that, while the average female representation in the municipalities of the region, which number over a thousand, is relatively similar (17.9%), this figure rises systematically, the greater the size of the population: the figure is below 15% in the municipalities with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants, rising to 20% in medium-sized municipalities and right up to over 30% in cities with a population of over 100,000, confirming the positive correlation between urban lifestyle and women’s participation in political life.

ITALY

It can be seen from the historical figures for the presence of women in the Lower House and Senate in Italy (Table 7) that the trend, although it is a rising one, is a fairly slow one, leaving Italy in one of the lowest positions of all the European countries (as already noted above). Overall, however (as in many other countries), the level of female participation in political life is rising in Italy:

- it is higher in local than national government;
- it is higher in legislative bodies and assemblies than in individual office and executive bodies.

Table 7
FEMALE MEMBERSHIP OF ITALY'S LOWER HOUSE AND SENATE

Table 8 shows the highest level of female representation to be among municipal councillors, with a rate of 19.5% of all councillors.

Table 8
MEMBERS OF EXECUTIVE BODIES, ACCORDING TO OFFICE AND GENDER (1997)

At regional level (Table 9), the principle that women’s representation is far less in executives than in legislative assemblies is confirmed: 6.2% of the members of Italy's regional governments (Giunte) are women (14 of 225), while that percentage is almost doubled (11.4%) in the regional councils (124 of 1,084 members). There is a less marked difference in participation in legislative and executive duties at provincial and municipal level.

Table 9 FEMALE MEMBERSHIP OF ITALY'S REGIONAL COUNCILS AND GOVERNMENTS (1997)

If we compare regions with each other, a particularly significant point is the low rate of female participation in the southern regions, where the mean rate is approximately 8.5%, below the national average. In the regions which are politically "red", on the other hand, there are large numbers of women, as in Emilia Romagna, Tuscany and Umbria, which, together with Lazio, Piemonte and Molise, have the highest levels of participation (where regional councils are concerned).

Finally, it is worth pointing out that there are no female presidents of regions in Italy at the moment.

SPAIN

The assessment of women's presence in public institutions in Spain was based mainly on general statistics relating to local and regional authorities in the various parts of the country; the facts collected directly through the questionnaires, relating to provinces, are so few that they have been used only to update the situation as at 1997. Some information is available, on the other hand, in respect of municipal government, with data which exists on the gender of mayors.

The most important feature which emerges from consideration of the data relating to the regions of Spain (Table 10) is the very rapid growth in women's representation in elected assemblies, an increase perceptible even over the brief period between 1989 and 1995 covered by the available information (the small amount of information about the subsequent period obtained through the direct survey would seem to show a further rise).

7.3% of elected members of regional councils were women in 1989, a figure which rose sharply, virtually to 20%, over a period of just 6 years. As well as being a fairly high one, this figure is remarkable for being similar in the various regions: the difference between the highest rate (28-29% in Andulusia, the Balearics and the Madrid region) and the lower levels (10-11% in Murcia and Aragona) is not a huge one, and it remains smaller than the gap which existed in 1989.

This homogenising tendency may be interpreted as the result of a process which started with a sharp rise in women's participation in institutions and then, in a second phase, has tended to stabilise around a common mean.

Table 10
FEMALE MEMBERSHIP OF REGIONAL COUNCILS IN SPAIN

In the regions where the rise first started (Madrid, Catalonia and Astoria), it has in fact continued, but to a lesser extent than in the other regions, as part of an alignment process.

In addition to the figures showing women’s presence in elective assemblies, general information is available about the percentage of mayors (mayor = alcalde) who are women (Table 11).

The rising trend already detected is also confirmed by these figures (500 of the eight thousand Spanish mayors were women in 1995): the 3% rate of 1987 rose within eight years to a level more than double (6.5%). Apparently in conflict with the situation usually found when regional and local levels are compared, the female presence in municipalities seems to be below that found in the higher tiers.

Table 11
WOMEN MAYORS IN MUNICIPALITIES IN THE SPANISH REGIONS

The comparison is not an even one in fact, because the office of mayor is both political and executive, so it is predictable that the growth of female representation would initially be clearer in assemblies and only subsequently spread to individual offices.

A more detailed analysis of the regional distribution of female mayors shows greater instability than in elective assemblies (some decreases in percentage between 1987 and 1995). Lastly, it should be noted that there are not necessarily larger numbers of female mayors in those regions where more women are members of elective assemblies; there is a correlation in the regions of Madrid and the Balearics (where female mayors number over 10% of the total), but not in Andalusia, for example (3.9%), or in the region of Valencia (6.1%, higher than the previous figure, but still below the national average).

SWITZERLAND

The direct survey of the cantons of Switzerland concluded with replies to twelve questionnaires, a sample equivalent to 46% of the total. Information about all the cantons was available from other sources, enabling an overview of women's presence in Swiss institutions to be obtained. Bearing in mind that, when compared with the other western countries, it was relatively recently that women began to participate in politics in the institutions of Switzerland, their representation is fairly high, reaching 21.5% in the national parliament and (an average of) 23% in the cantonal parliaments in 1997 (Table 12).

Table 12
FEMALE MEMBERSHIP OF THE NATIONAL AND CANTONAL GOVERNMENTS OF SWITZERLAND

A comparison with the 1995 elections shows a tendency towards stabilisation at this level, although the level could still rise a little further in the light of the great dissimilarity in situations across Swiss territory. There is a great difference in the proportion of female elected representatives from one canton of Switzerland to another, some areas having a very high level of female representation in the cantonal council, with women holding over 30% of the total number of seats in some cases, whereas they do not even reach 10% of the total in other areas. Particularly remarkable is the proportion of women in the Geneva canton (36%).

It can generally be established that the highest levels are found in urban areas, such as Zurich, Geneva and Basel, while the lowest levels exist in rural areas. The differences tend to be even wider if we look at the cantonal origin of members of the federal parliament, probably on account of the lower number of seats available in the various cantons (some cantons in fact send a really small number of representatives to the federal parliament). This is confirmed by the fact that, in 1997, as many as 12 of the 26 cantons did not elect any women to the national parliament.

In Switzerland, as in most of the countries under consideration, there is a lower rate of female participation in executive bodies, meaning local and national government, than in legislative assemblies.

Scarcely 15% of all the members of cantonal governments are women, and there are no women at all in seven of the 26 cantons. In any case, there is no cantonal government with more than two women members among the total of 5-9 members (the size depending on the canton). Also confirmed is the tendency for greater female representation in governments of more urbanised areas, although this is less even, probably because of the smaller number of members.

5. Significant cases of initiatives and policy action in Europe to promote women's participation in politics

The analysis of the survey results should be amplified by assessing the replies given by the various European public authorities surveyed to the last question on the form, the one concerning the policies adopted in the various countries at national or local level for the express purpose of promoting the holding of political office by women.

As can be readily imagined, the replies are very hard to present and interpret because, as already stated, the survey results are not to be regarded as either exhaustive or sufficiently representative, and furthermore because the respondents had very different reactions to the question on measures taken. Some replies were plain yes or no, others (if yes) had various kinds of material attached (laws, training schemes, publicity campaigns, etc) generally relating to the position of women in the various countries but not always relevant to the political sphere.

The first point to mention is the sparseness of affirmative replies (Table 13); in aggregate, only about 44% of the completed questionnaires indicate that some steps have been taken towards women's political integration and refer to the main policies adopted for that purpose. In 39% of cases the answer is negative, while in 17% of cases the reply is simply missing (but would presumably be negative).

The rate of reply varies a great deal from country to country. The percentage of affirmative answers is higher for countries like Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Spain (between 60% and 80%), while Russia, Hungary and Ireland are at the lower end of the scale. It should be noted that the countries occupying the median position, though well behind the leaders, are Italy with 38% of the "yes" answers and France and the United Kingdom with still more limited percentages (about 1/4 of the questionnaires completed).

Plainly, in the kind of situation that emerges from these sparse data, both the public authorities and the political parties have even wider scope for action to increase women's presence in politics. This seems particularly true of the countries, for example France and even Italy, which while able to rely on strong traditions of social, cultural and political democracy, have not yet made the application of the equal opportunity principle fundamental. Germany, on the other hand, could provide an example of the reverse, having instituted a sound anti-discriminatory policy with satisfactory results in view of women's larger presence in the national parliament.

Table 13
SPECIFIC POLICIES FOR PROMOTING WOMEN'S ACCESS TO POLITICS: FREQUENCY OF REPLIES

REPLIES

YES some initiatives
NO no initiatives
NONE unanswered

Another point to be stressed is the variety of means of action used by the various institutions, whether national or local and public or private. The range includes cases where there are legal provisions in the matter (for example a rule on equal opportunity embodied in statutes or regulations at national, regional or sub-regional level, or a law laying down a minimum quota system for political representation), cases where special structures have been set up within government bodies to promote equal opportunity in politics and also more generally in employment (such as Equal Opportunity Commissions or Councils), cases where the problem is entirely given over to initiatives by each party, and lastly cases where women are offered vocational training programmes and efforts are made to raise public awareness through information campaigns.

The above typology of action has been used to categorise the replies from the various countries as shown in Table 14 (Classification of policies applied in the various countries according to the replies to the questionnaire- cf : [email protected]) . To make the results meaningful, it is useful to point out the following facts:

- the various instruments identified for aiding women's access relate, depending on the case, to different tiers of government (national, regional, provincial, etc);

- the policies specified may in some cases belong to the past and thus fail to reflect the more recent national situation (for instance, the Italian quota system was recently abolished);

- lastly, application of the same instrument may have very different implications in different countries (for example, the existence of a Statute or Regulation in Romania goes to show that women are entitled to hold political office but that the issue of equal opportunity for access is not addressed.

The poor participation of women in political affairs common to most of the countries studied, remarked on above, is less surprising in the light of the virtual absence of purposive action on behalf of women in the European framework, for example application of minimum quotas, the most controversial instrument but also the most effective one for redressing the male-female balance.

It can be observed with some regularity that initiatives by individual parties make up for the absence of a law on quotas, even though such initiatives do not always involve a minimum quota system.

The most widely used policy instrument in fact turns our to be information distribution and vocational training, showing that in many cases the problem of equal opportunity has so far failed to arouse interest throughout society and that just as frequently better preparation of women themselves (also regarding their motivation) is considered potentially helpful.

It is also worth noting the rarity, according to the survey conducted, of initiatives to promote labour market access for women (though admittedly the questionnaire made no explicit request for such information). There is mention of such initiatives only where Austria, Germany, Sweden and Norway are concerned. It is now accepted that measures to aid women's labour market integration can be important in terms of political involvement too, considering the complementary levels at which women participate in political affairs, ie as citizens, workers and political representatives. Indeed, the civic, political and occupational roles form what is known as the "participation circle" where all three factors are mutually influential. This is convincingly corroborated, for example, by the figures for the female unemployment rate compared to the numbers of women in important posts (managerial or executive) in the various European countries (Table 15).

Despite the frequent difficulty of comparing the figures for the different countries (especially on unemployment, where both the sources and the definitions used may differ), official data clearly indicate much higher frequency of female than male unemployment, and the magnitude of the gender difference (the female rate in most European countries is as high as double the male rate). Against this background, it can hardly be considered fortuitous that in countries such as Finland, Ireland, Norway and Sweden - with a particularly large presence of women in the legislative assemblies and government and likewise a high female employment rate - the male unemployment rate is frankly higher than the female one, just as there is a higher percentage of women engaging in occupational activity at managerial or executive level. Thus a very strong correlation obviously exists between labour force participation and political participation, and this should be suitably considered by all tiers of government.

Table 15
INDICATORS OF WOMEN'S LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION IN SOME EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Source: 1997 report by the Italian National Commission for Equality and Equal Opportunity, released by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, on "women worldwide 1995: statistics and concepts".

¹ 1992-93.
² Various years.
* Also includes the occupational status of "clerical workers and assimilated".

The survey results, presented here in summary form, do not of course yield precise indications of the actual position in each country, but the impression which they convey is plainly that more institutional action is needed to align the female participation rate with the "critical" level (35%).

In some cases the material appended to the questionnaires returned has afforded deeper insight into current debate on the subject in a few countries. It was this documentation which made it possible to outline more accurately the situation in Italy, France and Norway; experiences in these countries are meaningful in different ways because while the first two are "backward" in terms of female political participation, although they have recently displayed a strong tendency to change, the third is one of the most advanced in this respect.

Before going into the details of specific national cases, it is worth noting that Italy and France were somewhat behind many other countries in granting the vote to women; women have been voting in Finland since 1906, in Denmark since 1915, in the Soviet Union since 1918, in England since 1928, in Spain since 1931, in Italy, France and Belgium since the end of the Second World War, in Switzerland since 1971 and in Liechtenstein since as late as 1984 (only in some American states were women already enfranchised in the second half of the last century).

There is no doubt that women's enfranchisement, hence acquisition of the right both to vote and to stand in elections, was universally the real crucial moment in the process of attaining gender equality; however, there is not always clear coincidence between the point in time when women became citizens and the ensuing female emancipation processes in the various countries influenced by multiple factors of a historical, economic and political nature. In some countries such as the Soviet Union, a larger female presence in politics might be expected after 80 years of women's franchise; in others such as Switzerland, the female participation rates could be lower still considering that women have been voting for less than 30 years in this country.

THE CASE OF ITALY

The case of Italy can be considered especially interesting chiefly because of some quite recent events fuelling the debate on discrimination against women in politics and basically traceable to Constitutional Court ruling 422/95 that held "unlawful" the quota system aimed at redressing the balance of the electoral registers.

This event was of major significance not only in altering the rules on nominations but principally in shaping possible future solutions for increasing women's political participation.

More than 50 years after the 1946 referendum held to choose between monarchy and republican government, in which women participated massively for the first time (89% turnout), it cannot be asserted that women have been significantly present in Italian politics although they form the majority of the electorate. Over this period there have been few incentives or "affirmative" measures, namely differential and preferential treatment which (according to Constitutional Court ruling 109/93) are necessary in order that equal starting conditions for the attainment of social, economic and political integration are also secured to categories of persons who are socially disadvantaged by reason of gender, religion, language or personal circumstances.

The most important step ever taken was the one advocated by Tina Anselmi in 1993, introducing a number of rules to redress the balance of political representation when the new electoral laws were passed. There were in fact two laws: the first (L.81/93) provided that for local government elections neither sex could be represented on the lists in a proportion above 2/3 (or 3/4 in municipalities with under 15 thousand residents); the second (L.277/93), on the other hand, stipulated a method based on strict quotas for the national elections, laying down that the lists put forward for the allocation of seats according to the proportional system must be compiled with the names of male and female candidates appearing alternately.

These new rules aroused a great deal of opposition among both men and women of the left and the right alike (especially the second rule, because inclusion in the proportional list for the Chamber of Deputies has always been eagerly sought by all politicians, left or right, who must forego contesting the single-seat constituencies). But above all this legislative amendment did not stand the scrutiny of the Constitutional Court which, as mentioned above, declared it unlawful two years later.

It is also important to note the substantial concordance between the Italian Constitutional Court's line of reasoning and the one found in a decision of the Court of Justice of the European Communities relating to employment and not to politics but nevertheless placing a very narrow construction on the concept of affirmative action in favour of women. It did not accept as such a law enacted by the Land of Bremen prescribing automatic public service recruitment priority for women in the event of equal qualification where women were under-represented in the sector concerned or formed less than 50% of the establishment at the various occupational levels.

Both courts followed the same essential logic in their decisions: all measures furthering equal opportunity (same conditions at the outset) were deemed legitimate, but not all those aimed at directly achieving an effect of equality (same final result).

In the Italian court's opinion, the 1993 electoral laws conflicted with the letter of the Constitution, especially Article 3 ("All citizens shall be equal before the law") and Article 51 ("all citizens of either sex are eligible for public office and electoral mandates under conditions of equality"). The contradiction was discovered in the fact that any distinction based on sex tends to deny some citizens a fundamental right for the benefit of another group (if 1/3 of candidatures are secured to women, potential male candidates are in effect discriminated against); finally, the Court held, the imposition of balanced political representation, being an imposition and not a natural outcome, was incompatible with the very principle of equality.

This finding of unlawfulness by the Court was widely challenged. The most valid objection was that the decision erroneously sought to set aside as unconstitutional two laws which were very different from each other: the strict quotas system laid down for national elections could not really be compared with the equalisation rule stipulated for local government elections. Plainly, in the second case the law sought to ensure that citizens of both sexes could stand for election without, however, guaranteeing any result whatsoever or granting any privilege to either sex

For that reason, there is now a very widespread belief that a new law on local government elections may be put forward, nonetheless emphasising more strongly that the guarantee of participation must be equally valid for women and men.

There is more difficulty, though, regarding a solution to facilitate female candidatures for national elections that takes account of the Constitutional Court ruling and is compatible with the one-member constituency system applied at that level. From this angle, an apparently worthwhile proposal supported by a number of jurists is to make it possible (but not compulsory) for each party to put up two candidates (a man and a woman) in each constituency; afterwards, the preferences expressed by the electors would decide which one of the winning pair is elected to the seat. It is thought that this measure could promote equal opportunity without running the risk of unconstitutionality.

As well as this "moderate" current of thought there is another more "radical" one, aspiring to restore the application of the method based on quotas, even if hard and fast. Tendencies in that direction can indeed be observed on the European scene, for instance in Germany where, especially with regard to employment, it has been repeatedly acknowledged that strict quotas are the only way to remedy a situation of grave imbalance and under-representation, at least as an interim solution. Another example is Belgium where since 1994 the parties have been required by law to have at least 25% women candidates, a figure which has actually been raised to 33% as from this year (any unfilled posts are to remain vacant).

Conversely, in the countries that lead the way where female participation is concerned, such as Sweden, Finland and Norway (the last will be presented below), the results achieved are almost entirely thanks to the initiatives of the parties, many of which have undertaken to ensure at least a 40% proportion of female candidatures in their own lists.

On balance, Italy is now faced with the choice of reverting to the expedient of legislative intervention or relying solely on the parties and women's rights movements to further the necessary action to put more women in political office.

THE CASE OF FRANCE

In the early 1990s, France was singled out as one of the most unprogressive examples of female political representation, with a bare 6% participation of women at national level.

The latest information has nonetheless indicated a pronounced change where this country is concerned: at the 1997 elections, the proportion of women reached 11% thanks chiefly to a determined media campaign by feminist associations. This featured the 1996 manifesto of Simone Veil and Edith Cresson together with other female ex-ministers, alerting public opinion to the backwardness of the French situation compared to many other European countries and emphasising that the poor representation of women was very much at odds with the solid democratic tradition of France.
The 1997 election results should nevertheless be ascribed very largely to the quota system adopted by some political parties, such as the Socialists and Communists, who reserved 25% of their nominations for women.

Thus, while France is still a long way from the percentages of the "critical mass", there is no discounting the fact that a change of practice towards fuller integration of women in politics has indubitably occurred (something similar did in fact happen in England where the female membership of the Labour Party rose from 9% to 18% in 1997 after an effective election campaign wholly funded from the coffers of a women's rights lobby).

As many see it, what France still lacks is a constitutional amendment guaranteeing effective application of the equal opportunity principle, and argument over its expediency or inexpediency has become very lively in the country of late.

"Could it be that France, the home of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, is not really the land of human rights?" This provocative query, followed by the remark that the place occupied by women in French politics is still inadequate, opens the report by Catherine Tasca, member of the National Assembly, delivered in December 1998 on the subject of gender equality in France.

The 1958 Constitution was indeed by no means indifferent to this issue. The Preamble of 1946 already provided that the law secures to women the same rights as men in all sectors. Thereafter, the case law of the Constitutional Court established a reductive interpretation of the principle of equality between the sexes and had the end result of making the attainment of genuine electoral equality impossible.

Consequently, the Jospin government has presented a bill for revision of the Constitution which would make it possible to overcome every obstacle preventing true parity democracy from being instituted in France. In particular, the bill envisages adding to Article 3 of the Constitution the stipulation that "The law shall facilitate the equal access of women and men to electoral mandates and public offices".

Experience in France would therefore indicate that to secure women's entry into politics there is a need for parties in favour of it, but also that political resolve absolutely must be accompanied by legal recognition of the legitimacy of actions to fight sex discrimination, no matter whether such recognition is expressed in the Constitution or in the electoral law, or both.

THE CASE OF NORWAY

The growth of women's participation in politics at local government level recorded in Norway is the outcome both of action taken at local level and, more generally, of all the policies and initiatives pursued at national level. Suffice it to mention in this regard the relevant national law, section 21 of the 1978 Norwegian Act on Gender Equality, stipulating that each of the two sexes must constitute at least 40% of the membership where a public authority appoints its representatives to any body consisting of 4 or more persons, and that where there are fewer members both sexes must be represented nonetheless.

Conspicuous in Norway's record, with its great wealth of different initiatives, are policies intended to operate at various levels and to further the roles assumed by women, for instance as:

- citizens;
- public officials and political representatives;
- workers.

There follows a succinct account of action to attain the second of these three objectives, ie promotion of political participation.
An important function is this respect is performed by the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities, but the political parties are also significantly active.

Initiatives and activities carried out may be summed up as follows:

Mobilisation and election

The large number of women representatives in Norwegian elected bodies is partly due to the electoral system in force, which is founded on principles of strong proportionality. The apportionment of seats on county or municipal councils (but also in parliament) among the various parties, being closely correlated with their electoral strength, has the effect of encouraging the nomination of women. This system in fact makes it possible for female nominations to be listed (furthermore contributing to the success of the whole list) in other positions than top of the list, an opportunity which would not be available under the straightforward majority system.

Motivation campaigns

Experience shows that women are often reluctant to embark on a political career through fear of not being able enough, whereas the same doubt seldom occurs to men. It is therefore crucial to take the time to motivate candidates and guard against their reacting negatively to the prospect of involvement in political activity. Recruitment policy must therefore be applied by stages, starting with lower-level commitments.

At government level, regular data banks of women suitably qualified to be viable potential candidates are available for the purpose of observing the 40% principle in the appointment of government committees.

Information campaigns

Women's representation in public institutions, as in many other sectors, also involves a problem of "critical mass", or passing a minimum threshold. Below a certain number, women's presence in institutions is in fact of little significance.

Accordingly, as from the 1960s and 70s, information and publicity campaigns were conducted to increase women's involvement in the political activities of local authorities. In 1967 there was a first campaign (women municipal councillors increased from 6% to 9%) and the experiment was repeated in 1971 (15% was attained). These campaigns were subsequently re-applied, for the last time in 1995 on the occasion of the local elections for that year. Local meetings and conferences were organised, advertising in leading newspapers and media was financed, publicity and information material was printed, and a national network based on 1 or 2 persons per municipality was also created for the purpose.

Political training

In the early 1970s, the main parties arranged special training courses for women candidates, particularly to impart skills in debating, dealing with the media and bolstering personal convictions to help candidates defend their personal viewpoints more effectively and resist complacent and paternalistic male-dominant attitudes.

Today, initiatives are on the whole organised by the parties for the benefit of all candidates irrespective of gender. As from 1993, some of the courses were operated by the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities itself.

Psychological training

This is a training activity conducted for candidates in local elections by many of the parties, especially those of the left. Support of this kind is helpful in overcoming and combating discriminatory and hostile attitudes expressed through overt deprecation of women representatives' arguments or objections and in the tendency to deride of their opinions and embarrass them by emphasising their difficulties in coping with their dual role at home and in politics.

Practical aids for preventing early withdrawal

The difficulty of reconciling family and political commitments is one reason why women quickly and prematurely give up a political career. This problem can be countered to some extent by a system of aids which may be financial, material (child care or other services) or may also relate to the organisation of working time (flexible timetables, part-time work, etc).

Co-operation between parties on common goals

There are issues with very strong appeal to women's interests and sensibilities (sexual abuse and violence, abortion, motherhood and old-age issues, etc) concerning which common activities have been organised even among parties with differing views and have formed a sound basis for the activity of women politicians.

Feminist political parties and equal opportunity committees

Unlike what has happened in some East European countries (Russia and Lithuania - as well as Iceland from as early as 1982), in Norway all-women parties have not had a significant role. Formation of the traditional women's committees or female sections of established parties has been more frequent, on the other hand.

The Equal Opportunity Committees that sprang up in 1975 during the International Women's Year proclaimed by the UN are very active at local level too. In 1997 about half of the 436 Norwegian municipalities had a committee of this kind. This process has nevertheless displayed some limitations, among other reasons because the committees have few financial resources and powers. The paucity of the results considering the time spent has often caused frustration, and their validity should be regarded as confined to certain phases of the equal opportunity movement while in the more advanced stages other instruments no doubt prove more effective.

Quotas

In the 1970s the Socialist Party fixed a 40% quota for all its bodies and for its nominations, also laying down a principle of male-female alternation in the lists. Today, six of the eight national parties apply the same rules.

The state too, as mentioned above, has fixed a 40% quota for government-appointed bodies and there are numerous examples of appointments cancelled for non-compliance with this rule, whether because women or men were under-represented. This method has at least been worthwhile in stimulating a search for women candidates though methods including careful sifting of the various occupational categories for the best qualified women.

Official funding of the parties

The fact that the system of national parties is state-financed (a model which can be replicated at local level) obviously does not affect the problem of equal opportunity. However, it is widely held that the availability of public funds, releasing the parties from the obligation to raise funds by other means, contributes positively to gender equality by generally increasing the influence and democratic legitimacy of the actual parties.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The survey promoted by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe on women's participation in politics, the findings of which are illustrated in this paper, has afforded a deeper - albeit incomplete - insight into the different female participation levels recorded in the countries of Europe.

Not all the data made available by this survey could accurately reflect the role and importance of each state within Europe, since the respondents to the questionnaire formed a completely random sample that consequently was not representative enough.

Thus, considering that the practices registered by the survey constitute just a few examples of the different situations applying in the European area, it would be improper to infer from this limited information any unequivocal answers to the problem of how to achieve a larger female presence in all tiers of government from the central level downwards.

What clearly emerges from the resultant picture is that Europe has countries going through very different historical phases as regards the achievement of gender parity in politics. Situations of cultural retardation in respect of women's political participation exist side by side with situations of greater maturity and substantial gender parity. Plainly, depending on the frame of reference, the instruments (statutory or otherwise) to be applied could be of different kinds, because the effectiveness of any measure is closely linked with the underlying cultural and political context. In other words, the initiatives and proposals which have been considered in the case of Norway or Italy and France might be untimely in other situations, as for example those of Greece or Russia, where sufficient appreciation of the problem is lacking.

This does not mean, however, that a predetermined phased process exists for achieving male-female equality, which must be pursued by all countries as a matter of obligation; on the contrary, the path towards equal opportunity is bound to be different today from what it was in the past, precisely because knowledge of present, and above all past, developments in other contexts can be a valuable guide for governments and feminist movements in every country.

By and large, it can be asserted that the survey results have yielded some appraisals on the one hand substantiating the conviction that the range of "affirmative action" should be as wide as possible, and on the other hand highlighting the crucial importance of targeted rather than comprehensive measures for effectively furthering women's access to politics. Employment-related measures are indeed not an adequate basis for promoting their political participation, although of course their occupational and political integration are in very marked synergy - the more women enter the world of work, the more will enter that of politics.

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¹ See appended analytical study

² The President of the Republic is also a woman.

³ After the Socialist Party victory, the proportion of women rose to 10% of the Chamber.

⁴ The most recent figure available indicates 31% of women in the Bundestag.

⁵ Under the Blair government the proportion of women in the House of Commons is 18%.

⁶ In the Prodi government, the figure was 15%.