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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: bfield@bentley.edu
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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

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