While Germany has its first female leader and France could soon follow, women are still underrepresented in most European legislatures. Experts say political parties are largely to blame for the situation. Germany's first female Chancellor Angela Merkel arguably became the most influential political figure in Europe a few weeks ago as her country took over the presidency of both the EU and the G8. Merkel was also voted the world's most powerful woman by Forbes magazine in 2006.
The German head of government is a high-profile example of the success of women in European politics and could soon be followed by Segolene Royal, who is hoping to become France's first female president in May. But unlike Merkel and other female leaders, many women in European parliaments still owe their mandate to gender quotas. Similar to equal employment quotas, they are designed to boost the number of women in politics and balance out the number of male and female representatives.
No comments:
Post a Comment