A new European parity-democracy sex equality model and why it won't fly in the United States

Abstract

This article argues that over the past years, in Europe, some instruments and policies dealing with gender equality both at the national and supra-national level reflect a move from a narrow antidiscrimination frame to a broader model that tackles the underparticipation and disempowerment of women in public and private life as a deficiency of democracy and a problem of citizenship. By analyzing specific parity measures that have been adopted recently in some European Member States, such as electoral and corporate board gender quotas in publically held companies, the Article posits that a new understanding between parity democracy, sex equality and antidiscrimination law is evolving and explains why a combination of legal, historical, cultural, ideological and political factors make it unlikely that a similar development will take place in the United States.