nam 22 uu 4500 10.17176/20200730-235401-0 DE-Verfassungsblog cr||||| 200730s2020||||xx#|||||o|||| ||| 0|eng|| 10.17176/20200730-235401-0 doi eng 342 23 Davidson-Schmich, Louise K. Author aut Parity Laws in Germany An American Political Scientist’s Perspective Davidson-Schmich, Louise K. Verfassungsblog 2020-07-30 Text txt rdacontent Computermedien c rdamedia Online-Ressource cr rdacarrier Recently, the Thüringian State Constitutional Court struck down a new law requiring parity with regard to party lists for state elections in response to a challenge brought by the populist far-right Alternative for Deutschland. Many of the AfD’s and the male-dominated court’s arguments against the law are common worldwide in debates about quotas. In an increasing number of democracies around the globe, however, quotas have not only survived constitutional challenges but have come to be seen as an essential mechanism for achieving political equality. Empirical research has determined many common concerns about quotas are unfounded. Here I provide some responses to the AfD’s and the Court’s worries about the law, drawn from the extensive political science literature on gender quotas. funded by the government CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 gender equality parity parliament Max Steinbeis Verfassungsblog gGmbH Verfassungsblog 2366-7044 https://staging.verfassungsblog.de/parity-laws-in-germany/ raw object