Female Prime Minister Research Articles

Did sexist voters bring Italy its first female Prime Minister?

We examined the role of hostile sexism in vote at the 2022 general election in Italy, where the largest among center-right parties was led by a woman, Giorgia Meloni. We analyzed data from a sample of 1635 voters who participated in the 2022 ITANES survey. Hostile sexism was associated with male gender, lower education, higher religiosity, and right-wing orientation. As to vote choice, hostile sexism was positively associated with vote for Brothers of Italy and the other center-right parties. However, such association was significantly moderated by the evaluation of Giorgia Meloni, and disappeared among voters with a positive evaluation of her. Discussion focusses on the interplay between gender-related attitudes and candidate-based heuristics in vote choice.

Benazir Bhutto, Negotiating Politics amidst Misogyny: A Study of Daughter of the East

The present research paper analyzes the struggles of Benazir Bhutto as detailed in her autobiography, Daughter of the East (1987), highlighting her confrontations with political challenges, a dictatorial regime, and numerous hardships in her quest to restore and strengthen democracy in Pakistan. Bhutto navigated adverse circumstances, including male chauvinistic politics, orthodox religious ulamas, entrenched military dictatorship, and bureaucratic elitism. The paper delves into her political challenges, patriarchal social obligations, and Islamic ideological commitments, which she managed as the first woman Prime Minister of Pakistan during her tenures from 1988-1990 and 1993-1996. This era is critical to understanding her efforts to extract Pakistan from military dictatorship's grip, vividly portrayed in her autobiography Her eloquent narrative not only chronicles her ascent as the first female Prime Minister of a Muslim-majority country but also encapsulates the relentless adversities she faced as a woman in a deeply patriarchal society. Bhutto's poignant reflections on her political odyssey inspired me to delve deeper into her life, illuminating her as a warrior in real sense and a paragon of female fortitude amidst a turbulent political landscape.

Women’s Struggles for Empowerment in Bangladesh

Women have made substantial gains in health, education, and political representation in Bangladesh, which has been led by female prime ministers since 1991. Women play a key role in the garment industry, the country’s main export sector, and entrepreneurial ventures funded by microcredit loans have also boosted women’s empowerment. But entrenched patriarchal norms have pushed back against these changes, limiting women’s mobility, their presence in public spaces, their sexuality, and their reproductive choices.

From ‘Anomaly’ to ‘Laboratory’? Fratelli d’Italia, Illiberalism and the Study of Right-Wing Parties in Western Europe

Once considered an anomaly for its polarized pluralism, then marked, over the last three decades, by frequent alternations between populist and technocratic governments, Italy is now the only country in Western Europe whose coalition government is led by a party usually classified in the populist radical right family, Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d’Italia). While this means that the country has finally its first female Prime Minister, understanding the trajectory of the party is important not just for the state of Italian politics but also for comparative politics more in general. Taking stock of the recent literature on Meloni’s party, it appears that the choices made by the Fratelli d’Italia – in Italy and in Europe – can resonate beyond the national borders especially in terms of illiberal ideologies and practices of right-wing parties.

Nagyító alatt a 2022-es olasz parlamenti választások

The 2022 parliamentary elections marked a turning point for the Italian political system in many ways. As a result of the measures approved and introduced over the past almost ten years to change the electoral system (electoral reforms, decisions of the Constitutional Court, constitutional amendments, parliamentary reforms, etc.), Italian voters had the opportunity to elect the new members of both chambers of the parliament under the same electoral system, for the first time in the Republican era. The purpose of the article is to present the steps leading to this historic moment by analysing in detail the different measures affecting the electoral system and their impact. The paper then describes the electoral results and explains the processes leading to the vast victory of Italy’s first female Prime Minister, with a particular focus on the return to the bipolar logic favoured by the electoral system following the release of the three-pole system in 2013.

Formulaic Forms of Address as (Im)politeness Markers in Prime Minister’s Questions: Margaret Thatcher Versus Theresa May

Prime Minister’s Question Time (PMQs) is a political discourse genre with a long and distinguished history. Framed by formulaic forms of address, the exchanges follow a set of turn-taking “rules” that has evolved over time. The study presented here examines the (non)use of honorifics and other polite forms intrinsic to PMQs during interactions between two female Prime Ministers and their respective Leaders of the Opposition: Margaret Thatcher and Neil Kinnock, Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn. From diachronic and gendered perspectives, the study implements a mixed methods framework to address the following research questions: 1) has the use of formal politeness markers decreased over time? 2) Do gender dynamics influence impoliteness strategies in the context of PMQs? 3) In the shift from verbal to written discourse, what diamesic transformations appear in the official parliamentary transcriptions? The self-built corpus includes selected video recordings of PMQs from each of the Prime Ministers’ mandates, and the corresponding official transcripts published online by Hansard. The audiovisual texts were viewed and examined, the speech was manually transcribed, and then compared to Hansard’s version. Initial findings suggest that over time, across genders, and in Hansard’s digital transcripts, the use of politeness forms in PMQ exchanges appears to be diminishing as formulaic expressions are omitted or substituted with pronouns.

Italy: Political Developments and Data in 2022

AbstractThe year 2022 was (again) a year of intense political change in Italy. The President of the Republic was (re)elected in January, Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigned in July, and new elections were held in September, amidst energy and economic crises, growing inflation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The electoral victory of the centre‐right coalition, and in particular the success of Brothers of Italy, not only marked the rise to power of a prominent European far‐right party but also led to the nomination of the first female Prime Minister of the Italian Republic. The fall of Draghi's government and the formation of the first Meloni Cabinet raised questions about Italy's relationship with EU institutions, NATO and the transatlantic partnership.

Right-wing victory in the 2022 Italian parliamentary election: territorial patterns and systemic implications

The snap election held in September 2022 saw the victory of the right-wing coalition, with a remarkable performance of the populist radical right party Fratelli d’Italia and its leader, Giorgia Meloni, who has become the first female Prime Minister of the country. Another unprecedented element concerns participation, which was the lowest in post-war Italy for a national election. Throughout this article, we first shed light on the background of this election, by highlighting how the specificities of the electoral system and previous developments during the last legislature affected the strategic coordination of political parties. We then proceed to the illustration of the results, with a territorial analysis of participation figures, vote share and competitiveness of electoral constituencies. Finally, we assess the implications of this election for the institutionalization of the party system. What emerges is a picture of growing abstention, disproportionality, fragmentation and electoral volatility, which suggests an overall consolidation of instability.

Special Issue Introduction – The 2022 Italian general election: a political shock or the new normal?

This introduction to the special issue places the 2022 Italian general election within the recent electoral history of Italy and the broader European context. Following the same multidimensional structure adopted for this collection of articles, here we address general questions regarding the significance of the last election, its dynamics, and implications. Firstly, to what extent did it represent a change compared to previous Italian elections? Secondly, can Italy still be regarded as an anomaly in the European context? Have the 2022 results widened or narrowed the political gap between the country and its neighbours? By providing a longitudinal and cross-sectional overview, our aim is to suggest some interpretative keys, which, in conjunction with the rich data presented and discussed by the authors of each article, may enable readers to draw general lessons about recent developments in Italian and European politics. Our overall argument is that, while clearly significant in its political implications – producing the most ideologically right-wing government in republican history led by the first female prime minister –, the 2022 general election did not represent a radical change from previous Italian elections. Instead, it marked a further step in the emergence of a ‘new political normal’ characterised by volatility, fragmentation, mainstreaming of populist ideas and actors, polarisation and the reframing of socio-economic and socio-cultural cleavages. Additionally, while Italy can be regarded as the most advanced manifestation of these transformations, we observe similar shifts in most Western European countries, indicating that their seemingly unshakable stability is now in question.

Editorial

Editorial

Parliamentary Dress

Parliamentary Dress

Italy at the polls. Four lessons to learn from the 2022 general election

ABSTRACT On 25 September 2022, in an election that saw a record low turnout, the coalition of the centre-right emerged as the clear winner and Fratelli d’Italia (FdI) as the most-voted party. As a result, the centre-right political forces agreed to form a government headed by FdI’s leader, Giorgia Meloni, who became the first female Prime Minister in Italy’s history. The aim of this article is to gain a better understanding of the election outcome and of its implications for the transformation of the Italian party system. The main ‘lessons’ of the results have to do with voters increasingly dissatisfied with parties and prone to abstaining or to changing their vote choice, and with a party system that has become more polarized and de-institutionalized.

Margaret Hilda Thatcher. 13 October 1925—8 April 2013

A politician of global stature in the late twentieth century, Margaret Thatcher (née Roberts) studied chemistry at Oxford University during World War II and worked as an industrial scientist in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Entering Parliament in 1959, she served as Secretary of State for Education and Science under Edward Heath in the early 1970s. In 1979 she became not only the UK's first female Prime Minister but also the first with such a scientific background. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1983, under Statute 12, she oversaw significant changes in science policy and her administration faced many major political issues that depended on scientific advice, notably the AIDS crisis, biomedical uses of human embryos, decisions over civil and military nuclear projects, acid rain, and climate change.

Sweden: Political Developments and Data in 2021

AbstractThe year 2021 in Sweden contained no elections, but was still very eventful. A lack of government stability, observable in earlier years, became increasingly apparent. There was a successful vote of no‐confidence against the Social Democratic Party (Socialdemokraterna)/Green Party (Miljöpartiet de gröna) minority coalition in late June, but the same government was reinstated 16 days later. In early November the Social Democrats changed leader from Stefan Löfven to Magdalena Andersson. This was followed by a corresponding change of Prime Minister, after a somewhat chaotic chain of events where the government lost a key budget vote and the Greens left the government. Andersson thus became Sweden's first‐ever female Prime Minister, in charge of a single‐party Social Democratic minority government. The Greens changed female spokesperson in January. There were no institutional changes.

Гендерная принадлежность как один из социальных факторов и его лингвистическая реализация в речи политиков (на материале записей интервью британского премьер-министра Терезы Мэй)

Current research studies the concept of “gender” as one of the social factors that determine the choice of language means defined as more typical for female or male speech. The study focuses on the speech of Theresa May, the former British Prime Minister, the second female Prime Minister after M. Thatcher. The analysis of 10 interviews with male and female journalists is based on the classifications of masculine and feminine language means described in the studies of such linguists as R. Lakoff, a representative of feminist criticism of language, W. O’Barr and B. Atkins, who highlighted the influence of the speaker’s social status, D. Tannen, J. Holmes and D. Hyde. This study characterizes the features of T. May’s speech as masculine or feminine, depending on the communicative situation when the Prime Minister uses such markers as the 1st person pronouns, etiquette clichés, intensifiers, modal verbs “must” and “can”, as well as the tendency to interrupt the interlocutor. T. May’s speech features both feminine and masculine traits, notably feminine ones are more frequent in interviews with female journalists, due to the discussion topics, while masculine indicators are more typical for her communication with male interviewers, whose questions were addressed to T. May as the leader of the state and concerned social and political life of the UK. The feminine traits in such a situation indicate emotionality and seeking for the support of the speaker’s opinion. They might be considered as factors weakening T. May’s status of an appropriate leader, especially when criticized by an interviewer.

Women's paths to power: female presidents and prime ministers, 1960–2020

Women's paths to power: female presidents and prime ministers, 1960–2020

Radical-Right Surge in a Deinstitutionalised Party System: The 2022 Italian General Election

ABSTRACT The 2022 Italian general election marked a new step in the unprecedented instability experienced by the Italian party system over the past 15 years. This article presents and discusses the outcome of the election within the deinstitutionalised Italian party system. The most remarkable results were the unprecedented success of the radical-right FDI (Fratelli d’Italia – Brothers of Italy) led by Giorgia Meloni (who would become the first female prime minister in Italy) and a historic drop in voter turnout. In particular, by employing original individual-level survey data, we investigate the impact of territory on the vote, the individual-level dynamics behind the results, and the overall picture emerging in terms of the Italian party system.

Yet Another Populist Party? Understanding the Rise of Brothers of Italy

ABSTRACT From its 2012 beginnings as a marginal radical right splinter group, in the 2022 general election ‘Fratelli d’Italia’ (Brothers of Italy, FdI) was the most voted party and its leader, Giorgia Meloni, became the first Italian female Prime minister. While both leader and party can be classified as belonging to the populist radical right family, we argue that FdI must be understood also as a ‘rooted newcomer’, i.e. a party that can count on pre-existing organisational resources, building its appeal also on symbolic elements already familiar to the electorate when the party was formed. Focusing on the supply side, we tackle some of the main open questions related to the party’s ambivalent nature, often fluctuating between a post-fascist profile and a frequently reiterated support for other European radical right illiberal leaders and more moderate positions. We identify the politics of illiberalism as the key challenge the party faces in its transition from opposition to government.

Women's Participation in Pakistan's National Assembly Elections: A Historical Review (1970-1997)

This article aims to discuss women's political participation in the context of the country's electoral history. Additionally, it discusses barriers that have had an unembellished consequence on women’s participation in the elections in the past. Women's representation in legislatures remained low, which led to the absence of their voices in the political affairs of the country. Gender and politics study in Pakistan has centered on the participation and representation of women in legislatures since 2002. It is critical to analyze women's participation in elections prior to 2002 to comprehend the contribution made by those female politicians who took part in elections under unusual circumstances. The people of Pakistan have elected a female prime minister twice prior to 2002.Because of the efforts of those women legislators, Pakistan currently has a better level of female representation in both the national and provincial legislatures, respectively.

Benazir Bhutto as an Administrator

Benazir Bhutto was the first female Prime Minister of a Muslim country. She was also the first politician in Pakistan who was elected Prime Minister twice. Her leadership abilities brought several unique and unprecedented measures in Pakistan. Nonetheless, she had to face a lot of challenges in both of her tenures which included a rift with the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) led rule in Punjab that objected her leadership as un-Islamic based on her gender. This rift eventually discontented the President Ghulam Ishaq Khan who dissolved assemblies only two years after she rose to power. Similar issue happened with her government in 1996 when the President Farooq Leghari dissolved the assemblies bringing an end to her second term as Prime Minister and that also two years earlier than its official expiry. Nonetheless, during her both short-lived terms as Prime Minister of Pakistan, she proved herself as a far-sighted leader who made some valuable administrative contributions to the country. Her administration also made some unprecedented measures which were also replicated by the forthcoming governments. This article explores her administrative contributions and it also mentions the challenges she had to face as the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan.