Quota adoption and the exogenous track model: The parity laws in the french pacific collectivities

Drawing on the work of Dahlerup and Freidenvall (2005), this article considers how the implementation of the French parity laws in the Pacific collectivities fits in with established discourses of quota adoption. It proposes that there is another axis of quota adoption—the 'exogenous' and 'endogenous' track models. In France, the parity laws, introduced in 1999, have had mixed results, with a large increase of women councillors at municipal level, significant changes at regional and European levels, but a disappointing impact on the gender make-up of the National Assembly. The impact of the parity laws, however, stretches well beyond the borders of mainland France. While the Pacific region has one of the lowest levels of women's representation in the world, the parity laws have dramatically increased the number of female legislators in the French territories. The introduction of the parity laws in the French Pacific territories constitutes an example of 'exogenous' track quota adoption, in which quotas can truly be defined as exogenous shocks to the local political systems.