Abstract
In the first term of Socialist prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (2004–2008), legislation such as the 2004 gender violence law and the 2007 gender equality law put Spain at the vanguard of gender equality policymaking in the European Union (EU) (Calvo & Martín 2011; León 2011b; Lombardo 2009; Valiente 2008).1 In contrast, a first glance at his second term (2008–11) would lead us to conclude that there was a more modest, but not negligible, level of innovation in gender equality policy. While the executive continued to appoint a large number of women to positions of political decision-making and parliament passed important legislation, in particular abortion decriminalization and new regulations for domestic workers, in general these measures have not been considered pathbreaking.
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© 2013 Bonnie N. Field and Alfonso Botti
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Valiente, C. (2013). Gender Equality Policymaking in Spain (2008–11): Losing Momentum. In: Field, B.N., Botti, A. (eds) Politics and Society in Contemporary Spain. Europe in Transition: The NYU European Studies Series. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137306623_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137306623_10
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