Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T20:50:18.261Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Reflections on a “Heavenly Chorus [that] Sings with a Strong [Male] Upper Class Accent”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Sandra L. Suárez
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

When it comes to our understanding of the distribution and exercise of political power in the US, does it matter that women have not been able to break the glass ceiling? Most political decisions in the US are shaped by the preferences of elites. However, despite of important economic gains women continue to play a minor, and rather peripheral role, in the US business elite, with very few of them appointed to top management or to the CEO position, and an even smaller number belonging to the inner circle of corporate board directors. In parallel, the number of women who are millionaires is on the increase, but their impact on the political process is still small. Women are the majority of eligible and actual voters, and non-elite and elite women in particular have different political preferences than men – especially in the areas of social spending. However, in spite of the increased concerns with the high levels of inequality in the US, little or no change can be expected if women's voices continue to be drowned by the overwhelming male presence in the commanding heights of the business landscape.

Type
Critique and commentary
Information
Business and Politics , Volume 17 , Issue 1 , April 2015 , pp. 161 - 175
Copyright
Copyright © V.K. Aggarwal 2015 and published under exclusive license to Cambridge University Press 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barton, Allen H. 1985. “Determinants of Economic Attitudes in the American Business Elite.” American Journal of Sociology 95: 54–87.Google Scholar
Bratton, Kathleen A. 2005. “Critical Mass Theory Revisited: The Behavior and Success of Token Women in State Legislatures.” Politics & Gender 1 (1): 97–125.Google Scholar
Bush, Sarah Sunn. 2011. “International Politics and the Spread of Quotas for Women in Legislatures.” International Organization 65 (1): 103–137.Google Scholar
Campbell, Kevin, and Mínguez-Vera, Antonio. 2008. “Gender Diversity in the Boardroom and Firm Financial Performance.” Journal of Business Ethics 83 (3): 435–451.Google Scholar
Catalyst. 2014. “Women on Boards.” Accessed March 3, 2014. http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/women-boards.Google Scholar
CAWP. 2014a. Gender Differences in Voter Turnout. New Jersey: Center for American Women and Politics, Rutgers University. http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/fast_facts/voters/documents/genderdiff.pdf.Google Scholar
CAWP. 2014b. Current Numbers of Women Officeholders. New Jersey: Center for American Women and Politics. http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/fast_facts/levels_of_office/Current_Numbers.php.Google Scholar
Celis, Karen. 2007. “Substantive Representation of Women: The Representation of Women's Interests and The Impact of Descriptive Representation in the Belgian Parliament (1900–1979).” Journal of Women, Politics & Policy 28 (2): 85–114.Google Scholar
Chandler, Alfred D. 1984. “The Emergence of Managerial Capitalism.” Business History Review 58 (4): 473–503.Google Scholar
de la Merced, Michael, and Creswell, Julie. 2013. “With Huge War Chests, Activist Investors Tackle Big Companies.” The New York Times, August 30.Google Scholar
Eavis, Peter. 2014. “Executive Pay: Invasion of the Supersalaries.” The New York Times, April 12.Google Scholar
Enloe, Cynthia. 2013. Seriously!: Investigating Crashes and Crises as If Women Mattered. Berkeley: Univ of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Etzioni-Halevy, E., ed. 1997. Classes and Elites in Democracy and Democratization: A Collection of Readings. Vol. 1083. New York: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Farrell, K. A., and Hersch, P. L., 2005. “Additions to Corporate Boards: The Effect of Gender.” Journal of Corporate Finance 11 (1): 85–106.Google Scholar
Gilens, M., and Page, B. 2014. “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens.” Perspectives on Politics 12 (3): 564–581.Google Scholar
Gómez Ansón, Silvia. 2012. “Women on Boards in Europe.” In Women on Corporate Boards and in Top Management: European Trends and Policy, edited by Fagan, C., Menéndez, M. G. and Gómez Ansón, S., 18–42. UK: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald, and Norris, Pippa. 2000. “The Developmental Theory of The Gender Gap: Women's and Men's Voting Behavior in Global Perspective.” International Political Science Review 21 (4): 441–463.Google Scholar
Iversen, Torben, and Rosenbluth, Frances. 2006. “The Political Economy of Gender: Explaining Cross-National Variation in the Gender Division of Labor and the Gender Voting Gap.” American Journal of Political Science 50 (1): 1–19.Google Scholar
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. 1977. Men and Women of the Corporation. Vol. 5049. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Kaufmann, Karen M., and Petrocik, John R. 1999. “The Changing Politics of American Men: Understanding the Sources of the Gender Gap.” American Journal of Political Science 43 (3): 864–887.Google Scholar
Lawless, Jennifer L. 2004. “Politics of Presence? Congresswomen and Symbolic Representation.” Political Research Quarterly 57 (1): 81–99.Google Scholar
Mansbridge, Jane. 1999. “Should Blacks Represent Blacks and Women Represent Women? A Contingent ‘yes’.” The Journal of Politics 61 (3): 628–657.Google Scholar
Meyerson, D. E., and Fletcher, J. K. 2000. “A Modest Manifesto for Shattering the Glass Ceiling.” Harvard Business Review 78 (1): 126–136.Google Scholar
Mills, C. Wright. 1956. The Power Elite. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mizruchi, Mark S. 1996. “What Do Interlocks Do: An Analysis, Critique, and Assessment of Research on Interlocking Directorates.” Annual Review of Sociology 22: 271–298.Google Scholar
Mizruchi, Mark S. 2013. The Fracturing of The American Corporate Elite. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Nielsen, Sabina, and Huse, Morten. 2010. “The Contribution of Women on Boards of Directors: Going Beyond the Surface.” Corporate Governance: An International Review 2 (18): 136–148.Google Scholar
O'Connor, Clare. 2012. “The Election's 40 Biggest Billionaire Donors.” Forbes, October 22.Google Scholar
Page, B. I., Bartels, L. M., and Seawright, J. 2013. “Democracy and The Policy Preferences of Wealthy Americans.” Perspectives on Politics 11 (1): 51–73.Google Scholar
Sandberg, Sheryl. 2013. Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.Google Scholar
Schlozman, Kay Lehman, Verba, Sidney, Brady, and Henry E. 2012. The Unheavenly Chorus: Unequal Political Voice and The Broken Promise of American Democracy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Shin, Taekjin. 2012. “The Gender Gap in Executive Compensation: The Role of Female Directors and Chief Executive Officers.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 636 (1): 258–278.Google Scholar
Stevenson, Alexandria, and de la Merced, Michael. 2014. “Bare Knuckles at Sotheby's Auction House,” The New York Times, April.Google Scholar
Studlar, Donley T., and McAllister, Ian. 2002. “Does a Critical Mass Exist? A Comparative Analysis of Women's Legislative Representation Since 1950.” European Journal of Political Research 41 (2): 233–253.Google Scholar
Swers, Michele L. 2002. The Difference Women Make: The Policy Impact of Women in Congress. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terjesen, Siri, Aguilera, Ruth, and Lorenz, Ruth. 2014. “Legislating a Woman's Seat on the Board: Institutional Factors Driving Gender Quotas for Boards of Directors.” Journal of Business Ethics [published online 25 February 2014].Google Scholar
Torchia, M., Calabro, A., and Huse, M. 2011. “Women Directors on Corporate Boards: From Tokenism to Critical Mass.” Journal of Business Ethics 102 (2): 299–317.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Education. 2012. “Digest of Education Statistics 2012.” http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d12/tables/dt12_002.asp.Google Scholar
Useem, Michael. 1984. The Inner Circle: Large Corporations and The Rise of Business Political Activity in the US and UK. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Vianello, Mino, and Moore, Gwen, eds. 2004. Women and Men in Political and Business Elites: A Comparative Study in the Industrialized World. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Vogel, David. 1978. “Why Businessmen Distrust Their State: The Political Consciousness of American Corporate Executives.” British Journal of Political Science 8 (1): 45–78.Google Scholar
Vogel, Kenneth. 2012. “The Myth of the Small Donor.” Politico, August 7. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79421.html?hp=t1_3.Google Scholar
Winters, Jeffrey A., and Page, Benjamin I. 2009. “Oligarchy in the United States?” Perspectives on Politics 7 (4): 731–751.Google Scholar
Zweigenhaft, Richard L., and William Domhoff, G. 2011. The New CEOs: Women, African American, Latino, and Asian American Leaders of Fortune 500 Companies. Lanham MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.Google Scholar