Abstract
The Americas and Latin America in particular are sharply in advance of the global norm when it comes to the incidence of female presidential and prime ministerial leadership. One reason is the relatively high and increasing incidence of democracy on the two continents. Another is that the Americas are more progressive than other parts of the world. The relatively peaceful state of the region over the last half century is an additional factor, for women favor peace and force works to their disadvantage. The theory that dynastic advantages account for the prominence of female leadership in the Americas is erroneous. United States has lacked female leadership because of a countervailing male culture that blocks women’s aspirations, and because the nation has been on a near-permanent war footing. In an appendix, the arguments are supported by a table listing the world’s “Women Prime Ministers and Presidents 1960-2010.”
Highlights
United States has lacked female leadership because of a countervailing male culture that blocks women’s aspirations, and because the nation has been on a near-permanent war footing
It is unnecessary to massage the figures to conclude that Latin American women have – at the political leadership level – achieved a level of success that invites scrutiny.[2]
There has been erudite discussion, in relation to other fields, of the methodologies available for drawing conclusions from a list, which might be defined as “an entity with characteristics presented with systematic regularity.”[4]. Future cliometric historians may well wish to elaborate on the statistical properties and challenges of the list presented here
Summary
It is unnecessary to massage the figures to conclude that Latin American women have – at the political leadership level – achieved a level of success that invites scrutiny.[2]. United States has lacked female leadership because of a countervailing male culture that blocks women’s aspirations, and because the nation has been on a near-permanent war footing. Of some eighty-four women who were prime ministers or presidents of democratic countries between 1960 and 2010, twenty-one served in the Americas.
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