Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T01:01:34.683Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ministers, Gender and Political Appointments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2020

Bonnie N. Field Open the ORCID record for Bonnie N. Field [Opens in a new window]
Bonnie N. Field*
Affiliation:
Department of Global Studies, Bentley University, Waltham, MA, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study examines whether the sex of the selector matters for advancing women's inclusion in politics and how the political context shapes selectors’ preferences and behaviour. It focuses on an under-researched area – the political appointments ministers make in their ministerial departments – and thus sheds light on the conditions under which women access appointed office. It analyses six governments in Spain between 1996 and 2018, using a mixed methods approach that includes statistical analyses of political appointments and interviews with former ministers. It finds that women ministers, as individuals, did not appoint more women than men ministers did at any time. However, women's presence is highly relevant. In more gender-balanced political contexts, men and women ministers appointed more women. Moreover, the context changed, in part because critical political actors pushed for it. This imbued a new political sphere, subcabinet-appointed offices, with representational significance.

Keywords

ministersgenderpolitical appointmentsgovernmentsrepresentation
Type
Article
Information
Government and Opposition , Volume 56 , Issue 4 , October 2021 , pp. 722 - 743
Copyright
Copyright © The Author 2020. Published by Government and Opposition Limited and 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

Annesley, C, Beckwith, K and Franceschet, S (2019) Cabinets, Ministers and Gender. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnes, TD and O'Brien, DZ (2018) Defending the Realm: The Appointment of Female Defense Ministers Worldwide. American Journal of Political Science 62(2), 355–368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Castro, I (2018) Todos los hombres del presidente: el núcleo duro de Sánchez en Moncloa suspende en paridad, El Diario, 29 June.Google Scholar
Caul, M (1999) Women's Representation in Parliament: The Role of Political Parties. Party Politics 5(1), 79–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, C and Tavits, M (2011) Informal Influences in Selecting Female Political Candidates. Political Research Quarterly 64(2), 460–471.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Claveria, S (2014) Still a ‘Male Business’? Explaining Women's Presence in Executive Office. West European Politics 37(5), 1156–1176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crowder-Meyer, M (2013) Gendered Recruitment without Trying: How Local Party Recruiters Affect Women's Representation. Politics & Gender 9, 390–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, R (1997) Women and Power in Parliamentary Democracies: Cabinet Appointments in Western Europe, 1968–1992. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Enloe, C (1989) Bananas, Beaches, and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Relations. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Escobar-Lemmon, M and Taylor-Robinson, M (2005) Women Ministers in Latin American Government: When, Where, and Why? American Journal of Political Science 49(4), 829–844.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Escobar-Lemmon, MC and Taylor-Robinson, MM (2016) Women in Presidential Cabinets: Power Players or Abundant Tokens? New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franceschet, S and Thomas, G (2015) Resisting Parity: Gender and Cabinet Appointments in Chile and Spain. Politics & Gender 11, 643–664.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heywood, P and Molina, I (2000) A Quasi-Presidential Premiership: Administering the Executive Summit in Spain. In Peters, BG, Rhodes, RAW and Wright, V (eds), Administering the Summit: Administration of the Core Executive in Developed Countries. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 110–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krook, ML and O'Brien, D (2012) All the President's Men? The Appointment of Female Cabinet Ministers Worldwide. Journal of Politics 74(3), 840–855.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moon, J and Fountain, I (1997) Keeping the Gates? Women as Ministers in Australia, 1970–96. Australian Journal of Political Science 32(2), 455–466.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Müller, WC, Bergman, T and Strøm, K (2006) Parliamentary Democracy: Promise and Problems. In Strøm, K, Müller, WC and Bergman, T (eds), Delegation and Accountability in Parliamentary Democracies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 3–32.Google Scholar
Norris, P and Lovenduski, J (1995) Political Recruitment. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
O'Brien, DZ, Mendez, M, Peterson, JC and Shin, J (2015) Letting Down the Ladder or Shutting the Door: Female Prime Ministers, Party Leaders, and Cabinet Ministers. Politics and Gender 11, 689–717.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
OECD (2017) Government at a Glance 2017. Paris: OECD Publishing.Google Scholar
Parrado, S (2017) El gobierno y el diseño organizativo de la administración central. In Olmeda, JA, Parrado, S and Colino, C (eds), Las Administraciones públicas en España. Valencia: Tirant lo Blanch, pp. 77–113.Google Scholar
PSOE (2004) Merecemos una España mejor. Programa electoral, Elecciones Generales 2004. Madrid: PSOE.Google Scholar
Randall, V (1982) Women and Politics. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Real-Dato, J and Rodríguez Teruel, J (2016) Politicians, Experts or Both? Democratic Delegation and Junior Ministers in Spain. Acta Politica 51(4), 492–516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reyes-Housholder, C (2016) Presidentas Rise: Consequences for Women in Cabinets? Latin American Politics and Society 58(3), 3–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, A (1999) Women in Legislatures and Executives of the World: Knocking at the Highest Glass Ceiling. World Politics 51(4), 547–572.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riccucci, NM and Saidel, JR (2001) The Demographics of Gubernatorial Appointees: Toward an Explanation of Variation. Policy Studies Journal 29(1), 11–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodríguez Teruel, J (2011) Los ministros de la España democrática: Reclutamiento político y carrera ministerial de Suárez a Zapatero (1976–2010). Madrid: Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales.Google Scholar
Romero, J (2018) Dominio masculino en el núcleo de Sánchez y paridad por los pelos en segundos niveles, El Confidencial, 1 July.Google Scholar
Siaroff, A (2000) Women's Representation in Legislatures and Cabinets in Industrial Democracies. International Political Science Review 21(2), 197–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Studlar, DT and Moncrief, GF (1999) Women's Work? The Distribution of Prestige of Portfolios in the Canadian Provinces. Governance 12(4), 379–395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Threlfall, M (2007) Explaining Gender Parity Representation in Spain: The Internal Dynamics of Parties. West European Politics 30(5), 1068–1095.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tremblay, M and Pelletier, R (2001) More Women Constituency Party Presidents: A Strategy for Increasing the Number of Women Candidates in Canada? Party Politics 7(2), 157–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valiente, C (2013) Gender Equality Policymaking in Spain (2008–11): Losing Momentum. In Field, BN (ed.), Politics and Society in Contemporary Spain: From Zapatero to Rajoy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 177–195.Google Scholar
Verge, T (2010) Gendering Representation in Spain: Opportunities and Limits of Gender Quotas. Journal of Women, Politics & Policy 31(2), 166–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verge, T (2015) The Gender Regime of Political Parties: Feedback Effects between ‘Supply’ and ‘Demand’. Politics & Gender 11(4), 754–759.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mestre T, Verge (2007) Partidos y representación política: Las dimensiones del cambio en los partidos políticos españoles, 1976–2006. Madrid: Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas.Google Scholar
Vintila, D and Morales, L (2018) La representación política de las personas de origen inmigrante en España e Italia. Papers. Revista de Sociologia 103(4), 521–550.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitford, AB, Wilkins, VM and Ball, MG (2007) Descriptive Representation and Policymaking Authority: Evidence from Women in Cabinets and Bureaucracies. Governance 20(4), 559–580.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Field supplementary material

Field supplementary material

Download Field supplementary material(File)
File 26.8 KB