Women Presidents and Prime Ministers in Post-Transition Democracies

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xix

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Verónica Montecinos

   Pages 1-36

3. Women at the Top: Leadership, Institutions and the Quality of Democracy

   • Jane S. Jaquette

   Pages 37-58

4. Global Trends in Women’s Executive Leadership

   • Farida Jalalzai

   Pages 59-79

5. Gender and Institutions in Post-Transition Executives

   • Leslie A. Schwindt-Bayer, Catherine Reyes-Housholder

   Pages 81-99

6. Cultural Explanations for Men’s Dominance of National Leadership Worldwide

   • Elizabeth A. Yates, Melanie M. Hughes

   Pages 101-122

7. Dilma Rousseff (2011–2016): A Crisis of Governance and Consensus in Brazil

   • Fiona Macaulay

   Pages 123-140

8. Michelle Bachelet: Engendering Chile’s Democratization

   • Verónica Montecinos

   Pages 141-163

9. Luísa Dias Diogo: Gender and Political Leadership in Mozambique

   • Frances B. Henderson

   Pages 165-181

10. Assessing Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s Presidency: Effects on Substantive Representation in Liberia

    • Melinda Adams

    Pages 183-204

11. Corazon Aquino: The Reluctant First Female President of the Philippines

    • Diana J. Mendoza, Maria Elissa Jayme Lao

    Pages 205-219

12. Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh: Politics, Personality and Policies

    • Habibul Haque Khondker

    Pages 221-237

13. Iveta Radičová: The First Female Prime Minister in Slovakia

    • Sharon L. Wolchik

    Pages 239-258

14. Challenges of a Post-Communist Presidency: Vaira Vike-Freiberga and the Leadership of Latvia

    • Daina S. Eglitis, Laura Ardava

    Pages 259-276

15. Postcript

    • Verónica Montecinos

    Pages 277-286

16. Back Matter

    Pages 287-300

    PDF

This book contributes to our understanding of the trajectories and prerogatives of female political leaders in the varying context of democratization, political institutions and cultural norms. No woman had been elected leader of a country before 1960, but with democratic transitions on the rise since the 1970s, the number of women in executive office gradually became a trend of global scope. In 2015, nineteen countries had an elected female Head of State and/or Government, a proportionally small number that is expected to climb as more women compete for high office, sometimes against other female candidates. This volume compares how women executives differ in promoting gender equality and advocating for women’s rights and interests, as well as in their ability to negotiate gender policy agendas. Comparative and theoretical chapters on post-transition women leaders are complemented by case studies in eight countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern and Central Europe. This book will be of use to students and scholars interested in gender studies, comparative politics, and political leadership.

• female leaders
• executive politics
• democratization
• gender policies
• leadership studies
• Dilma Rousseff
• Michelle Bachelet
• Luísa Dias Diogo
• Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
• Corazon Aquino
• Sheikh Hasina
• Iveta Radicova
• Vaira Vike-Freiberga
• democracy

“This book makes an important contribution to the knowledge base about the role that economic, cultural, and political conditions play in women’s leadership in post-transition democracies, which has been a highly ignored issue. … Overall, this book will be reference reading for scholars working on women’s participation in politics in general, and in post-transition democracies in particular.” (Sema Akboga, Democratization, Vol. 26 (5), 2019)

“This book deftly combines theoretical explanations for the scarcity of women in chief executive political roles worldwide using case studies of women as leaders across Latin American, African, Asian, and post-transition European contexts. Explaining why female chief executives are so rare combines sociological, cultural, economic, and political threads and provides the reader with a platform to analyze the particular cases that follow and the obstacles as well as possibilities that confront gender-based reforms proposed by women political leaders. Overall, this book provides a nice combination of generalized explanation and specific social and political contexts and is shaped through an excellent introduction by the editor.” (Professor Emeritus Bert A. Rockman, Purdue University, USA)

• Pennsylvania State University, Greater Allegheny, McKeesport, USA

  Verónica Montecinos

Verónica Montecinos is Professor of Sociology at the Pennsylvania State University, Greater Allegheny, USA. She authored Economists, Politics and the State: Chile 1958 – 1994 (1998) and co-edited Economists in the Americas (2009). She has published essays on democratization, technocratic politics, history of economic ideas, and gender and pensions.

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