From Laggard to Leader: Explaining the Belgian Gender Quotas and Parity Clause

Abstract

This article analyses the Belgian gender parity debate of the 1990s. It first sketches the history of this debate and how it led to the adoption of statutory gender quotas (1994 and 2002) and finally also to the insertion of a clause on parity democracy into the Constitution. The article then discusses the factors explaining the adoption of these measures. After focussing first on the electoral system and citizenship model in place, it looks at the attempts of the women's movement, political women's groups and a number of femocrats to relate their requests to existing models of citizenship and representation, with special attention to the windows of opportunity facilitating these attempts. The article concludes with a reflection on how the Belgian case contributes to a broader understanding of the processes through which gender quotas and, more broadly speaking, gender parity get initiated and consolidated.