By: Viivi Brunila, Baptiste Duguit and Zena Iovino. (Please send your comments of this essay to zena.iovino@helsinki.fi)

The Green parties, which are a relatively new phenomenon, are our focus of interest in terms of women. We suspect that these parties enjoy a higher percentage of women members than other parties in general and address equality matters more aggressively and radically. It is beneficial to become familiarised with the history of global green feminist politics before going on to compare the women’s positions of the green parties of Finland, Sweden and France. We have chosen to focus on the correlation of green parties and women, the faction of women members of green parties and also focusing on the women’s issues, which green parties promote According to a statement made by the head of the United Nation’s Inter-Parliamentary Union this past international Women’s Day on March 8th,

"Political parties are the main obstacle to lifting the participation of women in national parliaments from a world average of 13%." (www.smh.com.au/news/0003/08/world/worl)

Examining the construction of political parties reveals new dimensions and trends in politics of the day; hopefully in our case showing which parties women are most active in and the underlying reasons. Our aim is to question, if women are more active in the green parties also from a regional perspective, studying the differences between Finland and Sweden; a type of Nordic model compared to France as a region in the more southern part of Europe. A central issue in this essay is finding out what the political parties themselves are doing for the promotion of equality.

As a source in our study we have used research conducted by Miki Caul to test our hypothesis on the impact that the Green movement has had on

women’s representation in politics. It is very encouraging, that in the conclusions of the study Caul notes, that it seems possible and likely for underrepresented groups like women, to increase their representation through party channels. More specifically he notes, that underrepresented minority groups such as environmentalists, racial and ethnic minorities, and citizen’s movements more generally find expressive representation by establishing themselves within the internal ranks of parties.

In Caul´s study the role of political parties in relation to women’s representation in politics is examined through four party-level factors. The study looks at the impacts that the party’s organisational structure, ideology, women party activists and gender related candidate rules have on the direct number of women the party sends to parliament. In the study Caul suspects that especially New Left values and high levels of women activists within the party both enhance the likelihood that gender-related candidate rules will be used. (www.democ.uci.edu/democ/papers/caul.htm)

In our study we shall both test Caul’s conclusions and apply theoretical model used by him when analysing the Green Movement. Also we will test his conclusions when comparing parties in our chosen countries and finally comparing the countries to each other.

Harriet Holter first formulated the theory of shrinking institutions. Holter’s theory asserts that often when women attain power in society they do this in institutions that are already losing power and/or becoming less important. Holter believes that " a development has taken place from limited but real rights for women to equal but empty rights" (Bergqvist; Christensen 1999, 71)

Although the theory of shrinking institutions poses an interesting and important question to be asked, the theory has also been criticised. For example, Ann–Dorte Christensen notes, "the theory of shrinking institutions is much too rough and ready". Also she argues the conclusion that as the party membership is declining in many countries it would then mean, that parties in general are in the process of "shrinking". (Bergqvist; Christensen; 1999, 71)

Since we are mainly focusing on the Green Movement and its impacts on women’s political representation it should also be considered what the "newness" of the Green Movement means in a more historical perspective. As most of the Green Parties have rose from the social- and environmental movement in the 70´s they are relatively new compared with the more traditional political movements like Conservatism, Social Democratic, Agrarian or older Left Wing parties. Also the integration of women to political parties did not occur in larger scale until the seventies and eighties.

Considering the newness of the Green Movement, women’s rather late integration to political parties, overall decline in membership to the political parties especially in the Nordic countries (Bergqvist; Christensen; 1999, 71), and the apparent success the Green Movement has had in bringing women in to politics, it is necessary to ask whether women have been integrated into shrinking institutions?

Equality, non-violence and ecology are all founding characteristics of the global green movement. Taking an eco-feminist standpoint, the movement ‘s main aim was to show that women are those suffering to the greatest extent from environmental exploitation. "Thinking globally and acting locally" is a green party motto, but also a feminist one. The general party ideology incentives include the enhancement of a cooperative relationship between human beings and nature, non-violence towards the Earth and all people, dismantling of nuclear defence, chemical industries unilateral disarmament and non-military forms of defence. The founding ideas of this movement can in a nutshell be respect for all people and nations. The movement saw itself as a link combining human rights, women’s rights and environmental activism. This platform is in general that which the green parties tend to draw their general direction from over the last two decades worldwide. (Kelly 1995, 169)

Departing from the general green movement guidelines, and examining the basics of eco-feminism, some interesting and quite chocking features are brought up concerning the relationship between women and the environment. Brushing up on some back ground facts first: Half of the population is female; they make up one third of the labour force and account for two thirds of all working hours. This relates to women receiving one tenth of the world’s income and owning less than one percent of the world’s property. Females continue to be employed in lower paying work categories; their pay being around half to three quarters that of males’. Women and children make up most of the poor and starving. Over ninety percent of all refugee populations are women and children as well. In the developing world women are responsible for half of all food production and husbandry and one hundred percent for all processing. In these parts of the world women are those hauling the drinking water, and they must walk further to find it because of deforestation which has led to the erosion of top soil, thus creating this situation. Environmental disasters in general lead to migration to cities, which usually proves equally disadvantageous for these women. Pollution everywhere, be it in the form of toxic pesticides, chemical pollution, nuclear waste leakages or acid rain, have proven to have at least some affect in the rise in complications in the female productive system, including: stillbirths, miscarriages and congenial deformities. (Kelly 1995, 171)

Petra Kelly was a very famous ecofeminist; she helped found the West German Green Party in 1979, according to her:

" Male domination is prevalent in capitalist and socialist ideologies, and it is oppressive to women and restrictive to men." (Kelly 1995, 172-173)

Her goals included promoting social justice, stopping the rich countries from exploiting the poor and ending the criminal weapons transfers among many other points. Ecofeminism aimed at advancing women at the forefront in ecological organisations and movements though the media had often ignored the women in theses positions. Ecofeminism also stressed breaking the cycle of violence on the personal, national and global levels. The green movement in its early days challenged that half of the women at United Nation’s conferences on Environment and Development should be women and that women and children should be the centre political consensus. (Kelly 1995, 173)

After getting a glimpse of how much influence women have had on the beginnings of green politics, it’s time to turn to see where green parties today stand on women’s issues.

Examples offer more concrete answers than agendas to what the Greens are doing in the EU. In March of 1999, due to a Green initiative the European Parliament accepted the decision to bring a considerably larger number of women into the Commission. At the time, elect chairman Romano Prodi had to later explain his statement of that he would only accept first class men into the Commission. Heidi Hautala, chairwoman for the Committee on Women’s Rights and Equality Matters, insisted to Prodi that womanhood does not correlate to incompetence. The gender distribution factor is a main criterion for how the Greens support the Commission. The Women’s Rights Committee also focuses on how women’s rights in developing countries can be progressed, and how well international agreements concerning women have been followed. Hautala has maintained that the use of quotas is an alternative to be considered in areas lacking competent women. (http://www.vihrealiitto.fi/hautala/greenfax/14/gfx1410.htm)

Some general guidelines of the Greens in the EU display their workings in aiming to advance the position of women. The EU has continuously been working for equal rights. Women being able to exercise and enjoy full equal rights is a new treaty from the EU, but the Greens still remain interested in the realities of women. The Greens are against mainstreaming that would replace a policy of positive action.

· Poverty is female-this means that 4 out of 5 people living in poverty in the EU are women. It is a reflection of women earning 20-30% less for equal work and also that they lose their jobs more easily. Women’s invisible work also goes unaccounted for. The Greens have proposed a scheme for basic income, claimed independently from family status.

· As the labour market is still guided by the idea that benefits should go to those who work full-time, the Greens demand that part-time workers be eligible to receive unemployment compensation for the time they do not work depending on contributions to unemployment funds. The Greens also demand better child-care provisions.

· Women entrepreneurs should be encouraged with special loan facilities combined with tax incentives.

· A quota system to be enacted for women at all political levels; as such measures have proven very effective in some countries.

· Gender related violence is demanded to be recognised internationally as a justification for granting asylum.

The points mentioned so far are all demands, which goals have the Greens then achieved by now? They have ensured that the principle of full equality in the EU Treaty of Amsterdam, a ban on gender or sexual orientation as well as the possibility of positive activism were all included in the treaty as well. The Greens have contributed to programs combating violence and sexual abuse, and with the help of the European Women’s Lobby prevented the plan to abolish the Women’s Rights Committee in the European Parliament. Furthermore, the European Parliament accepted the Green proposal that legislation concerning equal opportunities immediately applies to countries, which become new members.

Future aims of the Greens include closing the existing gender gap in salaries by 2010, and designating a women’s share of the Union’s budget for: female poverty reduction, female employment, gender research and women’s NGOs.(http://www.europarl.eu.int/greens-efa/docuVERTS/women/en/titre8.html)

The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union has stated that the increased equality between men and women is a main priority of theirs. The Union, according to the statement,

"…Should aim both at removal of inequality between men and women and the promotion of equality between them." (www.eu2001.se)

How would this ideal be brought about? According to the Swedish Presidency, one of the most important goals of gender equality is that every man and woman be economically independent, thus differences in job opportunities and salaries due to gender should be studied more suspiciously. The workings of, tax structures, benefits and social insurance system should be examined from a gender perspective as well. (www.eu2001.se)

Observing Miljöpartiet itself now, the Swedish green party we wonder, what issues are important to it and how are the women going on inside it? Miljöpartiet states that it was founded in September of 1981 due to the traditional parties being unable to deal with emerging environmental problems. As a movement its roots are in the alternative movement ideologies of the 1970’s. In their first national parliamentary elections in 1982, they earned only 1.7% of the vote, 4% was needed for entry into parliament, opposingly they gained 126 seats on 96 local councils. Support for the party has varied over the years, losing all parliamentary seats at times but continuously gradually increasing legitimacy. (www.miljopartiet.se) In the most recent Swedish elections of 1998, the Greens received 4,5% of nationwide votes and gained 16 seats in the parliament. In these elections the Green Party shared second place in the number of women, which were voted in, a total of 50%, also shared by the Social Democrats. The Centre party voted in the most women at a total of 56%. The conservative party voted in the smallest number of women, only 30%. (www.riksdagen.se) Such differences lead our interest to comparing the different party agenda stands on women.

Starting with the Centre Party, which has more women than men in the Parliament at 56% has an internal "centre women’s unit", which in the 1990’s focused on issues such as: development projects in the African continent as well as projects in the newly independent Baltic States. The Centre women (centerkvinnorna) have worked to enforce increased safety for women and children. They were strongly against the decision by the Social Democrats in 1994 to eradicate the care allowance. Concerning equality matters, the issue of centre feminism has remained important on the party agenda. (www.centerkvinnorna.se)

The Social Democrats, having the same number of women as men in the Parliament designated the 9th point of the 21 points of the " European Social Democratic Party Manifestation for the European election of 1999", being "The creation of equality between men and women." This point went on to say that the principle of equality is a foundation for democracy and that it must be enforced in all areas of society and be a part of the social and economic politics. Discrimination of any kind thus weakens society; responsibility for family and work must be equally divided and domestic violence must be countered. In concluding these statements, the Social Democratic Party takes on the responsibility of guaranteeing equal right for men and women in the European Union. (http://www.socialdemokraterna.se)

Instead of comparing all the parties, we’ll now jump down to the Swedish Moderates, who voted in the least amount of women to the Parliament at 30%. From their web pages it is immediately apparent that there is no women’s network or even a specific point on the party agenda concerning women. Under the headline "Current topics", there was the question of "How do we increase equality?" The party answer as follows is incredibly fuzzy: " It is absolutely clear that women and men are equal and should have the same possibilities in work-life as men. Inequality has to do with taxes that hamper workingwomen, lack of choices in child-care, difficulties in receiving help in the home due to taxes and the smaller career possibilities of female occupations. All of these hindrances must be taken out of the way." (www.moderata.se)

Though all the parties are hazy in their proposals of how to battle inequality, the Moderates proved to show the least amount of concern for women’s issues. Their generalised and empty statements seem to take the position that women are mainly responsible for home and child-care and need aid in doing so. This brief comparison is seemingly already proof of how important it is for women to be active in political parties and in parliament in order for women’s and children’s issues to reach legislative opportunities. As old-fashioned as it may sound, men are still not very interested or aware of these areas.

The European elections of 1999 sent two green Swedish representatives to the European parliament. The Swedish Green Party stands for the same general principles discussed earlier, to shed some more light on the Swedish case, highlights of the Green party bill include: increase of taxes on oil, coal and electricity, environmental taxes on pollution and the increased support for the development of regions among other things. (www.miljopartiet.se)

Miki Caul’s study in 1997 on "Women’s Representation in Parliament: The Role of Political Parties", wants to explain the proportion of women thepolitical parties send to Parliament in four factors: 1) Organisational structure, 2) ideology 3) women party activists and 4) gender related candidate rules. One of Caul’s main assertions is that women party activists on lower party levels in turn benefit the representation of women in legislation, from our research on Sweden so far, this holds true especially in the sense of the internal women’s network of the Centre party. This notion goes on to assert that women’s direct activity within parties increased the number of MPs. Parties that implement gender quotas in their party rules also lead to a direct influence on women’s representation. Caul’s study finds that Leftist and Post-materialist values of parties increase the representation of women. In the Swedish case, New Left values have aided women’s representation, as New Left values are very much those of the Green party. For the left parties themselves the Swedish Left-wing Party comes third, ranking 42% women in Parliament, which is midway of the six parties. Post-materialist values relate directly to the agenda of the Greens; but is it fair to make the assumption that it would be the main reason for the high number of Green women MPs? One of Caul’s conclusions is an accuracy that we agree with—namely that parties are the gatekeepers to Parliament and party efforts and quotas are the most efficient means of all underrepresented groups increasing their proportion in Parliament. (http://www.democ.uci.edu/democ/papers/caul.htm)

Centring attention now on the Swedish Green party’s disposition on equality of the sexes, the following will first focus on some broader slogans and work ahead from that, in examining details of the situation and explanations. The platform on equality is that every individual should both the right and the possibility to be economically independent, the rest of the main principles stem from this very central belief, including those that:

· The parent’s leave of absence from work should be extended by one month to be used only by the father. This is an aspect of the party’sefforts in working against a gender-segregated labour market and also enforcing that both parents bear the responsibility for their children. The party also aims to support educational programs for girls away from the more traditional female areas and boys working in what is today considered the female sector.

· The working week should be shortened from forty to thirty-five hours and later on to thirty hours a week. This is a job-sharing proposal, a redistribution of jobs to turn around the trend of women as part-time workers and men taking up the majority of the full time jobs.

· Prostitution to be made illegal and punishment on sexual offences to be tougher. Abuse, sexual abuse and other forms of violence against women are considered the utmost contempt for women and a means of oppression. It also mirrors the imbalance of the sexes. The party believes that attitudes can be changed through harder penalties.

Miljöpartiet believes in quotas, they demand that give or take one person in 50/50 gender distribution in all politically appointed boards and committees, including within the party itself. As a consequence, hoping to make the concerns and interests of women a higher priority on the political agenda Making proposals about education, social issues, healthcare and economy relevant from both male and female perspectives is necessary as these perspectives differ due to the dissimilar consequences they have on men and women. The party strongly encourages female networks, where women can have their own space, not feeling like they have to be like men and simultaneously create changes in a female direction. These networks also function to serve as a balance to the informal male networks.

Miljöpartiet demands surveys and research on many issues regarding women. They recognize that women have a harder time finding a job which could offer them economic independence and that women are well underpaid for the caring work they perform. As the party wants to include the upgrading of women’s work and status as a part of their equality plan, it seems safe to conclude that the party is very aware of women’s issues and deducing from the party policies seems to be an avid supporter of them. (www.miljopartiet.se)

The roots of the Finnish Green movement go back to the 70s peace-and environmental movements. The Finnish Greens first took part in parliamentary elections in 1983 running with a handful of independent candidates. Two candidates were elected as the first ever to come to the Finnish Parliament outside of a registered party.

The Green League of Finland, Vihreä liitto was officially registered as a political party in 1988. The first major manifestation was written and approved in 1990 and the successful 1991 parliamentary elections brought the Greens 10 seats with 6,8% of the total votes. After the 1995 elections the Greens got their first minister to the government. In the 1999 elections the Green League won 11 seats their support rising to 7,3%. (www.vihrealiitto.fi)

Women’s representation in the Green League has always been exceptionally strong although the first two representatives that were elected were men. After the first two elections where the Greens were running the elected were all male candidates, later the percentage of women quickly rose to 50% and has not come down since. In the 1999 Parliamentary elections 11 candidates were elected and 9 of them were women. That makes 81% women of the Parliamentary group which is exceptional compared to any other party in the Finnish Parliament. For example, the number of women in the Social Democratic party is the highest after the Greens with the total of 41,2% of MP´s being women. The lowest numbers are found in the Centre party (27,7%) and surprisingly enough in the Left Wing Alliance (30,0%). (www.eduskunta.fi)

Although the Green League as such has reached very high representation of women MPs they also have a separate Green Women’s association that was established in 1993. The association aims to work as a channel for women who are interested in women’s position in the society and equality matters. The Green Women’s Association is committed to the fight for advancing gender equality matters. They organise seminars, trips and schooling as well as opportunities to meet with other green women. The association also publishes it’s own newspaper that covers green women’s activities as well as takes a stand for the matters they want to promote.

The Green Women’s Association has also published a collection of articles written by women activists, green women MP´s and other experts in the field of feminism, politics, research and economy. The articles can be seen as the manifesto of the values the Green Women’s Association promotes.

In the country report "Women In Politics In Finland" By Ally, Arro, Hutchinson and Pailler, the group concludes that women in Finland tend to support womenand conservative parties. This does not however; seem to show as a strong female representation in the MPs of the National Coalition Party or in the Centre Party, which are the two biggest conservative groups in the Finnish Parliament. For example, in the National Coalition Party only one out of three MPs is a woman.

The National Coalition Party has a very strong and vibrant women’s organisation which has worked for the rights of conservative women and women in general from as early on as 1919. The National Coalition Party’s women’s organisation also organises training for its members to learn how to actively function in the field of decision-making and in politics. (www.kokoomusnaiset.fi) This has been seen as one of the important actions that advances women’s possibilities in becoming active members of the political arena. (Holli; course material). However, it doesn’t seem that the conservative women have reached the same kind of success as their green sisters in gaining power in the parliament.

When analysing the Green League through Caul´s four party-level factors we shall use as a comparison the National Coalition Party of Finland. The reason for this is mainly to try to find a link between how the conservative and the more New Left values differ in their manner of addressing gender related issues.

In the question of party centralisation Caul remarks, that women tend to be better represented when the party leaders can effectively make an effort to promote women candidates through the use of specific party policies. The degree of institutionalisation also affects women’s recruitment. Caul notes that in the question of the size of the party and its willingness in addressing gender issues, it is the ideology that is more important than the size.

Neither the Green League nor the National Coalition party is using any specific measures, like gender quotas, to ensure women’s representation in the parliament or in the party organisation. There are still some differences to be seen in the procedures the parties use in their parliamentary groups. The Green League parliamentary group chooses their chairpersons and vice-chairpersons for only two seasons. This makes it possible for more people to be offered the chance to work as a chairperson in the parliamentary group since the time is limited. For example only one chairperson out of 32 has been a woman in the history of the National Coalition party. The Green League on the other hand has had female chairpersons and the chairperson at the moment is also a woman. This regulation would seem to be promoting women’s chances to be nominated as a party chairperson, which is an influential position in the Finnish Parliament. At the moment the Green League has two minister positions in the government, one woman and one man. (www.eduskunta.fi)

The party ideology and women activists

One of Caul´s hypotheses is, that there is a link between a political party’s ideology and the party’s willingness to put gender related issues high on their agenda. Caul claims, that New Left values and high amount of women party activists both enhance the likelihood that gender related issues would be addressed.

It is clear to see that the Green League takes the matter of gender equality very seriously. In the party program the equality matters are addressed widely and are right on the top of the party’s agenda. The Greens have published a lot of information where they specifically and in detail go into the equality matters and address openly the faults they see hindering women’s position in the Finnish society due to the politics practised. It is also clear to see that the Green League has put a lot of effort in to finding data and conducting research in the equality matters. They also present a vision for a more gender equal society and link the equality matters and the rights for gays and lesbians very tightly to human rights. (www.vihrealiitto.fi)

One thing that clearly rises up when comparing the two party’s visions and programs in how they state their philosophy, aims and goals. The National Coalition Party also states gender equality, as one of their top priorities but the approach to the subject is quite different. The Greens clearly demand equal wages, balanced responsibility of children and home to men and women, and a stop to domestic violence with specific and detailed program designed to remove gender discrimination. The National Coalition Party just submits to stating vague all around demands like "the family policies need to be fair and stable..." or that " it’s our moral duty to uphold the social safety net". (www.kokoomus.fi)

The real birth of feminism action in France can be seen as the "Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen" answer by Olympe de Gouges. This answer: "the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Citizen" is a statement of equality between men and women. She wanted to end the discrimination of women in all areas of social and public life.

Two centuries later, there are still some differences between gender in this both area. But now this avant-guarde’s ideas are mostly followed by the Green Party. Indeed in the French political life, this is the most advanced and openminded party. This originally ecological party opposes discrimination and it is also the most critical towards situations of inequality.

As for the subject which interests us, namely the main principle of the Green theory in relation to women which is quite simple:" The women’s representation cannot be solved only with quotas, they are only a means of claiming fair representation and striving for equality". Even if this is a young party in France (birth in 1984 in "Clichy"), the Greens were the pionneers of internal party gender representation in elections, as witnessed in the Municipal and European elections in 1989. In fact the Green party was the molded from two parties interested in political ecology. "Les Verts", as they are called in France, was born the 29^th of January 1984. The main idea of it, is to promote a new way of seeing politics. They represent an independent force compared to traditionals’ parties, an organisation open to discussion and civilian life. So it appears normal, that they are in front of the fight for the equal representation between men and women in the political decision-making. In this way, they were the first supporter of the "famous" Parity (french word for equality between men and women) Law of 1999 ( see description in "Women in politics in France" by H.Leppamaki, K.Glebova and J.Fischer;2001, p.9) , the future will witness what more progressive policies they will help enact.

Following this policy of parity, now there is an equal proportion of men and women in the internal and external authorities, with more or less 50% of women elected in the Greens lists. For example, their "Executive college"include 15 members…7 women for 8 men. A woman was the one presenting this ecological and solidarity idea at the 1994’s European and 1995’s Presidential election. Women at the head of the election list was quite common, the same is common for most of the Green party lists in Europe , especially the Greens ones lead by women. One of the relevant point for the presentation of the Greens as an open minded party is to show that more women are voted for them than men ("Women in politics in France"by H.Leppamaki, K.Glebova and J.Fischer;2001,p.5). This prove the reciprocity of interest between greens and women.

One of the ideas promoted by Dominique Voynet, during the Presidential campaign of 1995, was an equitable representation of women in the political life, this result can be done by the use of parity. She was supporting a proportionnal electing system with an equal mix of gender (chabadabada system). That’s why we said earlier that the Greens were supporting the Parity Law, even if they find it too "shy". In their ideology, they don’t want any quotas, because "woman" is not a category but half of the humanity. Even if the Greens are conscious of the difficulty of it, they adamantly assert in applying gender equality. This is more noticeable for the moment, because the President of the Party is a woman. Effectively, since 1995, Dominique Voynet is leading the French Greens. This leadership by a woman is not easy, even if this is an openminded political party.

The other great characteristics of Greens in France is to be in the "Jospin" governement with 2 members…one of both gender naturally, this participation is the results of 6 member of parliament elected in the 1997 election. Obviously there is 50% of each gender. In this governement, Madame Voynet is the environmental minister and Mister G.Hascoët is state secretary of interdependance(or solidarity) economy. But, even if they are working inside the left wing majority of governement, they maintain freedom of thought, talk and action. This capacity of criticism is quite difficult for the prime Minister but this allows some relevant evolution in different area where the Greens are active.

In fact, we can easily see the Greens’ position in studying their political propositions .We found in their web site the starting point of their programme for the gender parity. They want to put the principle of equal representation of men and women in all the elected Parliament, this principle must be for them integrated in the Constitution. Indeed, in their mind this evolution is the first step of a decisive progress of democracy. Of course they give some way to obtain this result, one of this, is a "formation" to politics for women. Because in practise, less women are form to political decision making. Another goal of Green is the effective application of the existings laws…They try by this way to promote a real wages equality, or against sexual harassement. In fact there are some laws to protect women in this subjects but their application is still difficult.

For this results of parity, one of the most important problem is the social position of women. The women can’t arrange for the moment a real familly life and a political one. Indeed they are still observed as the familly and house "MUM". The Greens are fighting against this obligation of "double day" for women…one in their public life and another one at home with their familly. Some of their proposition are in this way, because that’s good to give some rights to women, but we have to give them some possibilities to exercise this rights.

With this original ideas, the Greens seem to become an important French party, for example they had 14% in the last week municipal election. This result give them some influence in the governemental majority. The question now is to protect this young and dynamique party against himself… the power participation could be dangerous and it will be a big problem for the whole political life to see this party changing as the other ones.

Lastly, one of the interesting features of this party is the development of the "appetance" theory. The Greens want to promote this new French word, it means the combination of capability and wish…This theory is perfect for their position on women’s issues, this desire should be a possibility for women to enact. (www.les-verts.org)

We will continue to use Miki Caul’s report "Women’s Representation in Parliament: The Role of political parties", in assessing the party position onfemale representation. In the case of the French Greens we will focus on ideology and party characteristics.

This comparison study allows us to take a comparative look at several French political parties. We want to focus on the Greens and the RPR("Rassemblement pour la Republique" or Rally for the Republic). The RPR is a right-wing party; it wanted to be the successor of the General De Gaulle’s ideology. We chose these for comparison because both of these parties are lead by women, but this common characteristic can be seen as the only one between these two very different parties.

The RPR President is Madame Michele Alliot-Marie, but even if it has a woman president, this party is not promoting the role of women in political decision-making. Contrary to the Greens the RPR has not defined a positive action strategy. The RPR has always rejected feminist claims, emphasising the role of women as mothers. Women are generally placed in sectors that are traditionally considered as feminine (family, elderly, daily life). But this ancient view on women issues is gradually changing in the party. Since 1981 a group called "Femme Avenir"(Future Women) has existed, it supports women candidates who have received the party nomination in the RPR. Even if the situation is slowly bettering for women in this party, women have problems in advancing their position within the party, and there is a lack of women in higher decision-making positions. Madame Michele Alliot-Marie could be seen as an exception. The Greens, as the other little parties, has the highest rate of women, while the major parties are more reluctant to present women as candidates. The smaller parties would be the first to nominate women because they have "less to lose". (www.democ.uci.edu/democ/papers/caul.htm)

The Party ideology is also very relevant, we expect that Left parties are more likely to support women’s candidacies than right parties because Left parties in France champion more egalitarian ideologies (Duverger 1955; Beckwith 1986: Women in Politics in France) and New Left, even more with their Post-materialist concerns and values such as environment and gender equality.

So the comparison between these two political parties proves a confirmation of Miki Caul’s theory, indeed the young-left wing party is promoting women whereas the older-right wing parties aren’t too concerned on these issues. The new left parties have been active promoters of women’s issues. The new left and its parties are more closely linked to the women’s movement than are the traditional left parties such as labour and Socialist, which are more interested in labour issues. The Greens in France have brought new life into women’s political decision-making in their country.

DO THE GREENS IN FRANCE AND THE NORDIC COUNTRIES DIFFER?

The comparison between French and Nordic Greens can be studied from both differences in framework and in circumstantial terms. The first point isthe explanation of the French political life and society in relation to women political decision-making. This implies some differences with the other countries, especially with the Nordic ones, which are culturally and socially far unlike France. Secondly the point of circumstance will show that a certain time and position can influence the political life.

The structure differences between these countries are old and deep. Indeed, as we know, France was late in integrating women into political life; thisaffects the Green party and other parties, which promote women. This situation is still apparent in the French society, with remnants of historical tradition. There s a big problem in the recognition of women’s capability, especially in politics. In contrary the Nordic countries, especially in Finland and Sweden, such ideas have been partly overcome at an earlier stage. This means that even if the French Green party has the same goals as the Nordic ones, it’s more difficult for the French ones, because they have a different starting point. Another problem in France is the lack of women in political decision-making, as France is late, it takes more time. The French society is also slow in adapting to changes. Even if some parties as the Greens may create formal rules to promote women candidates, such action is not immediately becoming a habit among other parties. That’s the reason legislation is needed in order for women to attain more political power. This is not as much the case in the Nordic democracies discussed. (www.lesverts.org)

In party list proportional systems, parties are more likely to add women to the list in order to broaden their appeal and balance the ticket. Proportional systems better the chances of women not to mention smaller parties. The majoritarian system in France, does not aid women’s representation. The "virtuous circle" refers to when a woman enters a lower party rank and through it increases representation at higher levels. In France the Greens are the only party, which understood and applied this concept. France with the help of some parties, as the Greens is slowly recapturing the tardiness of women in politics, but the country has a long way to succeed in this. The last example could be the municipal elections where the application of the Parity law was a success but it didn’t result in any more women mayors. (www.lesverts.org)

The Green parties in all three countries seem to have a policy of promoting equality, and asserting special interest in women’s and children’s issues. Equality is a founding concept in green ideology. They appear to have kept their values from the earlier environmental movements, and may be perceived to maintain traces of earlier eco-feminism.

We have realised that the Green parties are basically similar ideology wise in Sweden, Finland and France, but the position of women in these countries in relation to power in political decision-making does differ. One aspect to begin with in explaining this may be the time of suffrage for women in these countries. The Nordic suffrage movement was already active in 1906, in Sweden women gained suffrage in 1921 and in Finland earlier in 1906. In France, on the other hand, suffrage was not granted until 1944, over twenty years later. Nordic countries have been considered highly organised countries. The organising of women at an earlier stage can be inferred to have been effective in bringing women into politics at an earlier time than in France. The electoral system in these countries differs as well. France uses a majoritarian system, compared to Finland and Sweden’s proportional system, which has shown to increase the chances of women gaining seats in elections. In a majoritarian system, smaller parties must often make alliances with larger parties to gain seats, thus losing some sovereignty. In France the Green party is gaining legitimacy, but it is still a much smaller party than in relation to the Greens in Finland and Sweden. However, the proportion of women does vary between Finland and Sweden’s green parties as well as in other "same" parties of the two countries. Such differences we dare infer, reveal the vital role of whether political parties assume steps in increasing equality or not. In France women reach positions in national decision-making much more infrequently than on lower levels of politics, consequently there are no quotas used in national parliamentary elections or in the elections for choosing European Union representatives.

The theory of shrinking institutions doesn’t seem to apply in any particular way to the Green Leagues of any of the countries we examined, as the Greens are becoming more popular and are increasingly considered more important among voters. For example in the Nordic countries, there has been an all around decline in party membership, but it has mostly affected all the parties equally. The decline in voter turn-up in national elections is nothing new. This trend has affected all parties more or less equally.

The Green parties are on their own promoting equality; taking a firmer stand on women’s issues and promoting equal representation within the party and outside of it. It is not a certainty to conclude that women’s issues are of such importance to Green party agenda solely because they usually have a high number of women than other parties, since equality matters are part of the main ideology. From a regional perspective, both Nordic Green parties have more sovereignty the French, as they are larger, this would mean that women and men have a greater chance of being active in the Nordic Green parties. In the larger picture, legislative measures must be taken for more women to have the chance of being more active in politics, especially in France. So we conclude by imposing the importance of quotas in all European countries, in order for representation to reflect the population in national governments as well as in the European Union. We applaud the Green party for the example they continue to set, though they are not the only parties promoting equality, especially in the Nordic countries.

Ally, Kulsoom; Arro, Liisu; Hutchinson, Sarah; Pailler, Benjamin (2001): Women in politics in Finland.

Christensen, Ann-Dorte (1999): "Women in the political parties." In Bergqvist, Christina et al. (1999): Equal democracies? Gender and Politics in the Nordic

Countries. Scandinavian University Press, Oslo, 65-87.

Fischer, Judith; Glebova, Ksenia; Leppämäki, Henna (2001): Women in politics in France

Holli, Anne-Maria (2001): Course material.

Kelly, Petra (1995): "Women and the Global Green movement." In D’Amico Francine et al. (1995): Women in World Politics, Bergin & Garvey, USA,

169-181.

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