How do men's and women's paths to political office differ? Once in office, are women's powers more constrained that those of men? The number of women in executive leadership positions has grown substantially over the past five decades, and women now govern in vastly different contexts around the world. But their climbs to such positions don't necessarily correspond with social status and the existence of gender equity. In Shattered, Cracked, or Firmly Intact? Farida Jalalzai outlines important patterns related to women executive's paths, powers, and potential impacts. In doing so, she combines qualitative and quantitative analysis and explores both contexts in which women successfully gained executive power and those in which they did not. The glass ceiling has truly shattered in Finland (where, to date, three different women have come to executive power), only cracked in the United Kingdom (with Margaret Thatcher as the only example of a female prime minister), and remains firmly intact in the United States. While women appear to have made substantial gains, they still face many obstacles in their pursuit of national executive office. Women, compared to their male counterparts, more often ascend to relatively weak posts and gain offices through appointment as opposed to popular election. When dominant women presidents do rise through popular vote, they still almost always hail from political families and from within unstable systems. Jalalzai asserts the importance of institutional features in contributing positive representational effects for women national leaders. Her analysis offers both a broad understanding of global dynamics of executive power as well as particulars about individual women leaders from every region of the globe over the past fifty years. Viewing gender as embedded within institutions and processes, this book provides an unprecedented and comprehensive view of the complex, contradictory, and multifaceted dimensions of women's national leadership.

Women are gaining ground as presidents of Latin America. Women leaders in presidential systems (particularly women directly elected by the public) were generally limited to daughters and wives of male executives or opposition leaders. With the election of Michelle Bachelet in Chile, these traditional patterns appeared to be shifting. This book asks: what conditions allowed for a broadening of routes, beyond family ties, for women in Latin America? Do women presidents of Latin America use their powers to enhance women’s representation? While providing valuable insight into the big picture of women in presidential politics throughout Latin America over the last several decades, this book more closely analyzes four women presidents gaining office since 2006: Michelle Bachelet (Chile) Cristina Fernández (Argentina) Laura Chinchilla (Costa Rica) and Dilma Rousseff (Brazil). It assesses the paths and impacts of Latin American women presidents and scrutinizes the ways gender shapes both aspects. No other scholar has offered such an in-depth analysis of the paths and actions of women presidents of Latin America. As such, this book offers important contributions to the gender in politics literature. Its multi-methodological approach consisting of original data collection from field work and in person interviews of political elites and experts combined with an analysis of a host of secondary sources including media articles and public opinion data makes this work exceptionally comprehensive. Its findings are applicable to those studying women, gender, and politics as well as comparative politics, Latin American politics, and leadership studies.

"Women's Empowerment and Disempowerment in Brazil uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate how Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's first female president, shaped women's political empowerment in her country and what the implications of these findings may be for women's executive leadership globally"--

In the U.S. and Canada, women have made great strides in attaining cabinet positions, especially since the 1990s. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of women's participation in the American and Canadian executive branches since the middle of the 20th Century. Women continue to comprise a minority of executive officials, serve at lower cabinet ranks and disproportionately in positions considered stereotypically female. While socio-economic factors do not seem working against women's promotion to executive positions, gender stereotypes continue to interact with political institutions and processes, significantly hindering women's advancement. While the analysis provides some evidence that women cabinet ministers substantively represent women's interests, further research is required to bolster this assertion. We call for the need to refresh and refine analyses of women's political participation especially regarding women in cabinet posts.

This paper examines nearly all women prime ministers and presidents coming to power from 1960 through 2009. Of particular importance is assessing their backgrounds prior to their ascensions, including age, educational attainment and prior political experience. Similar information on male leaders whom women succeed is also presented to see whether women's backgrounds are similar or distinct from their male counterparts. Women are slightly younger than men upon entering power. Few differences surface in education, though women generally attain higher degrees than men. The vast majority of executives are highly politically experienced with most having served in parliament, the cabinet, or routinely both. However, a larger proportion of women lack formal national political experience. Women rely less on traditional forms of political participation, often as part of democratic movements particularly in Asia and Latin America. These are also the regions where disparities disadvantaging women in educational attainment and political experience surface and where women are disproportionately promoted through familial ties. However, while kinship is still in full force, more recent female leaders are as highly credentialed as men. Overall, women do not suffer from a lack of preparedness to rule. The increased quantity of women national leaders as of late has not come at the expense of quality, even among women with familial connections to power.