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Presidentas Rise: Consequences for Women in Cabinets?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Catherine Reyes-Housholder
Catherine Reyes-Housholder*
Affiliation:
Department of Government at Cornell University. [email protected]
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Abstract

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Since 1999, women have democratically won the presidency eight times in Latin America and have named hundreds of ministers. This study argues that under certain conditions, presidentas are more likely than male presidents to improve women's cabinet representation. Two mechanisms, presidenta mandates and gendered networks, appear to drive the relationship. Furthermore, because the pool of ministerial candidates is shallower for women than for men, presidentas are most likely to advance women's representation in cabinets at the beginning of their term and for “feminine” ministries. A case study of Michelle Bachelet's 2006 ministerial appointments reveals initial evidence for the argument. Empirical implications are then tested with an original dataset of 1,908 ministers of all democratically elected Latin American presidents since 1999. Model results are consistent with the theory that presidentas are most likely to “make a difference” when they are least constrained by the supply of female ministerial candidates.

Type
Research
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 58 , Issue 3 , Fall 2016 , pp. 3 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 2016

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