Chapter 33: Women as Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Government Ministers

Pamela Paxton & Melanie M. Hughes

Women as presidents, prime ministers, and government ministers In 1995 national leaders from more than 100 countries gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. This group of national leaders was overwhelmingly male, including only 6 women. At the UN World Summit 10 years later, women were again only 8 of the more than 170 national leaders in attendance. Today, of the more than 190 countries in the world, a woman is the national leader of only 11. A female in the top leadership position of a country, such as Michelle Bachelet of Chile or Angela Merkel of Germany, is thus an extremely rare creature. From the beginning of the contemporary era until 1980, only 5 out of 1,000 political leaders were women (Blondel, 1980, p. 116). Today, we can count a few more female leaders who have appeared on the world stage, but numbers are still small. ...

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