Nicolas Sarkozy and Women
Résumé
This article examines the electoral support that President Nicolas Sarkozy
has enjoyed from French women, his appointment of women to positions of responsibility,
and the public policies initiated by him that affect women’s lives. In his 2007 election
victory, Sarkozy enjoyed similar levels of support among both sexes among most age groups,
though older women tended to favor him more than their male peers. In the run-up to the
2012 elections, support for him was generally lower among women than among men.
Sarkozy’s term of office opened with a fanfare, trumpeting a government composed equally
of men and women. By the end of his five-year term, the proportion of women in
government had fallen to scarcely a quarter. Regarding economic inequalities between men
and women, despite a number of measures favoring women in the business world, Sarkozy’s
five-year term largely failed to deliver the changes promised by him as a candidate
in 2007.