Virtually all European democracies, today, provide some form of public support to political parties. Given the proliferation of public funding schemes and the growing importance of state subsidies as a source of party income, a number of countries have introduced policies that link the provision of funding to women’s political representation, increasing or decreasing the amount of funding assigned to parties depending on the number of women presented as candidates or elected in public office. Notwithstanding the increasingly diffusion, this new form of equality promotion policies has received little attention thus far. We know little about why and how these measures have been adopted in different countries; how they work in practice; and, most importantly, what effects they have on women’s political representation. After presenting a typology of gender equality policies and a comparative overview of existing women-targeted public funding regulations in the European region, the paper concentrates on the case of Italy. We examine the evolution of the Italian legal framework on women-targeted public funding and discuss the extent to which it has proved effective in promoting women participation in Italian politics. Results show that linking party funding provisions to gender equality can be a useful way to encourage political parties to address the under-representation of women in political life, but outcomes are affected by policy design, in particular the establishment of relevant incentives and sanctions for non-compliance.
