Suchergebnisse

DURING THE PAST DECADE, POLITICAL RESEARCHERS HAVE DEVOTED GROWING ATTENTION TO WOMEN'S POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT AND, TO A SOMEWHAT LESSER EXTENT, THEIR POLITICAL ATTITUDES IN WESTERN CULTURES. THIS INTEREST HAS BEEN A RESPONSE IN PART TO CONTEMPORARY FEMINIST MOVEMENTS AND, MORE SPECIFICALLY TO THE INCREASINGLY VISIBLE ROLE OF WOMEN AS SOCIAL ACTIVISTS, PARTISAN ELITES AND GOVERNMENTAL DECISION MAKERS IN WESTERN EUROPEAN AND NORTH AMERICAN SOCIETY. IN THE FRENCH ELECTORAL LITERATURE, RECENT ANALYSES OF WOMEN'S POLITICAL ATTITUDES HAVE ADDRESSED TWO MAJOR EMPIRICAL PHENOMENA, NAMELY THE EXTENT OF FEMALE POLITICIZATION DURING THE 1970S COMPARED WITH THE IMMEDIATE POST-WAR YEARS, AND PATTERNS OF PARTISAN PREFERENCE IN THIS SAME CHRONOLOGICAL PERIOD.2 SUCH STUDIES GENERALLY CONCLUDE THAT FRENCH WOMEN ARE INCREASINGLY POLITICIZED AND, AT THE SAME TIME, INCREASINGLY LEFTIST IN THEIR PARTISAN BELIEFS.3 DESPITE THE CONSENSUS WHICH HAS EMERGED AROUND BOTH OF THESE TRENDS, THE DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN'S ATTITUDES IN FRANCE REMAINS IN NEED OF SYSTEMATIC ATTENTION. ON A CONCEPTUAL LEVEL, MANY EXISTING STUDIES HAVE FAILED TO RELATE SHIFTS IN FEMALE PUBLIC OPINION WITH BROADER PATTERNS OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN MODERN FRANCE. SUCH FACTORS AS THE DECLINE OF TRADITIONAL RELIGIOSITY.