Genovese and Steckenrider provide a timely and important look at the women who have held top political positions around the world while at the same time asking the important question, “when will America elect its first woman president?” In answering that question, this book takes a criti- cal look at how women are defined as leaders based on gender, and more importantly, why that matters for women pursuing top political leadership positions in the United States and other countries as well. —Lori Cox Han, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, Chapman University, Orange, CA, USA Genovese and Steckenrider weave together a wide-ranging collection of cases to shed light on the manner in which context, biography, leadership, and performance intersect with gender, as well as how these dynamics vary cross-culturally and cross-nationally. This is a must-read for scholars and students interested in the growing number of female heads of state. And it is a stark reminder of how far we remain from true gender parity in politi- cal institutions across the globe. —Jennifer L. Lawless, Associate Professor of Government and Director of the Women & Politics Institute, American University, USA These timely and important essays contain fascinating and genuine in- sights. The determinative importance of context in the rise to power, fam- ily background, the range of leadership styles shown, and the diversity of policies pursued by women leaders such as Benazir Bhutto, Indira Ghandi, Golda Meir, Angela Merkel, Margaret Thatcher, and others are critically assessed. The result is intelligent scholarship of distinction. —Professor Angus Hawkins, FRHistS, Oxford University, UK WOMEN AS POLITICAL LEADERS In this new volume in the Leadership: Research and Practice series, the editors and expert contributors provide a clearer understanding of the impact of gender on political leadership by examining the lives and careers of women who became heads of government: Corazon Aquino of the Philippines, Benazir Bhutto of Paki- stan, Violeta Chamorro of Nicaragua, Indira Gandhi of India, Golda Meir of Is- rael, Isabel Perón of Argentina, Margaret Thatcher of Great Britain, Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, and Angela Merkel of Ger- many. These women are not the universe of women heads of government in the past 60 years, but were selected because they illustrate a variety of paths to power, offer examples of both very short and very long tenure in office, are drawn from countries with greatly differing levels of economic and political development, and experienced varying degrees of success in office. Analysis and comparison of their careers contribute to identifying the central questions to be addressed as research continues. Students, academics, and researchers in the fields of leadership studies, political science, women and gender studies, management, and international rela- tions will find this new volume of interest. Michael A. Genovese holds the Loyola Chair of Leadership and is Professor of Political Science at Loyola Marymount University, where he directs the Institute for Leadership Studies. Genovese is the author of over 30 books, including (with Thomas E. Cronin) Leadership Matters: Unleashing the Power of Paradox (2012) and A Presidential Nation: Causes, Consequences, and Cures (2013). Janie S. Steckenrider is Associate Professor of Political Science at Loyola Mary- mount University and focuses on the areas of gender politics and political ger- ontology. She is the coauthor (with Tonya Parrott) of New Directions in Old Age Policies. Her work has been published in the Journal of Women and Politics , Jour- nal of Health and Human Services Administration , Southwest Journal of Aging , and Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease . Leadership: Research and Practice Series A James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership Collaboration Series Editors Georgia Sorenson, Ph.D., Research Professor in Leadership Studies, University of Maryland, and Founder of the James MacGregor Academy of Leadership and the International Leadership Association. Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D., is the Henry R. Kravis Professor of Leadership and Organizational Psychology and former Director of the Kravis Leadership Institute at Claremont McKenna College. Scott T. Allison and George R. Goethals Heroic Leadership: An In(cid:2) uence Taxonomy of 100 Exceptional Individuals Michelle C. Bligh and Ronald E. Riggio (Eds.) Exploring Distance in Leader-Follower Relationships: When Near Is Far and Far Is Near Michael A. Genovese and Janie S. Steckenrider (Eds.) Women as Political Leaders: Studies in Gender and Governing Jon P. Howell Snapshots of Great Leadership Aneil Mishra and Karen E. Mishra Becoming a Trustworthy Leader: Psychology and Practice WOMEN AS POLITICAL LEADERS S G G TUDIES IN ENDER AND OVERNING E DITED BY Michael A. Genovese Loyola Marymount University California, USA and Janie S. Steckenrider Loyola Marymount University California, USA First published 2013 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex BN3 2FA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2013 Taylor & Francis The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Women as political leaders : studies in gender and governing / edited by Michael A. Genovese, Janie S. Steckenrider. p. cm. — (Leadership : research and practice) 1. Women heads of state—Case studies. 2. Women—Political activity—Case studies. I. Genovese, Michael A. II. Steckenrider, Janie S., 1954– HQ1236.W63762 2013 306.2082—dc23 2012037134 ISBN: 978-1-84872-991-9 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-84872-992-6 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-203-12290-7 (ebk) Typeset in Minion by Apex CoVantage, LLC To Gaby — Michael To TJ — Janie Contents Series Foreword by Georgia Sorenson and Ronald E. Riggio .......................xi Preface .........................................................................................................xiii About the Editors ......................................................................................xvii About the Contributors .............................................................................xix Chapter 1 Introduction: Women as Political Leaders: Does Gender Matter? ...............................................................1 Michael A. Genovese Chapter 2 Managing Softly in Turbulent Times: Corazon C. Aquino, President of the Philippines ................14 Jeanne-Marie Col Chapter 3 Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway .....................................43 Sarah L. Henderson Chapter 4 Benazir Bhutto and Dynastic Politics: Her Father’s Daughter , Her People’s Sister ...........................80 Nancy Fix Anderson Chapter 5 Women in Power in Nicaragua: Myth and Reality .............110 Michelle A. Saint-Germain Chapter 6 Indira Gandhi and the Exercise of Power ...........................144 Jana Everett Chapter 7 Golda Meir: A Very Public Life ............................................176 Seth Thompson Chapter 8 Ma Ellen—The Iron Lady of Liberia: Evaluating Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s Presidency ....................203 Farida Jalalzai Chapter 9 Angela Merkel: From Serendipity to Global Success .........226 Janie S. Steckenrider x • Contents Chapter 10 “Perónisma”: Isabel Perón and the Politics of Argentina .......................................................................256 Sara J. Weir Chapter 11 Margaret Thatcher and the Politics of Conviction Leadership ..................................................270 Michael A. Genovese Chapter 12 Why No Madame President?: Gender and Presidential Politics in the United States ...................306 Richard L. Fox and Zoe M. Oxley Chapter 13 Conclusion: Women as Political Leaders: What Do We Know? .....................................................................336 Michael A. Genovese Author Index .............................................................................................345 Subject Index .............................................................................................349 Series Foreword This far-reaching and important book spearheaded by two political scien- tists delivers what has been agonizingly missing from public discourse—a deliberate, research-based analysis of women heads of state, one that drills down into the complexity of this elusive democratic ideal. Fifty-nine women from 45 countries have been elected or appointed to serve as heads of state, and Genovese and Steckenrider’s work provides a close look at a representative and diverse sample of this rarified group. Rather than the usual biographical generalizations, the chapter authors, most of whom are political scientists as well, are directed by a framework of five research questions, namely: What biographical factors were impor- tant to this leader’s rise? What path to power did the leader take? What leadership style was employed? How well or poorly did the leader p erform , and why? And finally, to what extent, and how, did gender matter in this leader’s rise and performance? The resulting leitmotif is instructive because it lays out an overview of the recurring barriers impeding politically ambitious women in different contexts and offers details about the strategies some women leaders have used to neutralize barriers to power. True, some of the women leaders studied surmounted these odds and got elected, but the real question remains: so what? Do women heads of state advance women’s condition? Did their election make any discernible difference to other women? In some cases, yes; others, no. Norway’s Gro Harlem Brundtland won a plethora of groundbreaking policies to promote gender equality, ranging from political leadership to child care and parental leave policies. After her presidency, she continued to advance women’s equality on the world stage. On the other hand, Margaret Thatcher rejected, even vilified, the women’s movement, and firmly denounced policies aimed at women’s equality. As Genovese wryly observes in his chapter on Thatcher, the “nascent women’s movement created the opportunity for Margaret Thatcher to be a politi- cian. It was a debt that she would not repay.” W hile this book’s reach is clearly global, it begins and ends with what the editors call “the U.S. problem,” the reluctance of Americans to support a woman for president. While many other countries have elected women