Not Tokens Anymore: Expanding Equality

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Not Tokens Anymore Expanding Equality
Integration of Women in Presidential Cabinets in
the U.S. and Latin America

• Maria Escobar-Lemmon Michelle Taylor-Robinson

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Is there gender integration in cabinets?

• We bring together 4 benchmarks measures of
  different observable outcomes within cabinets
• Types of posts received
• Legislative success
• Mode of exit from the cabinet
• Time in post
• Comparing men and women

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Gender integration

• When women receive posts for which they have
  connections to department clients their own
  base of political power (Borrelli 2010)
• When the track records of women after they are
  appointed match up to the records of the men
• Gender desegregation when women enter a
  formerly all male cabinet, but then are
  marginalized within it (Borrelli 2010 735)

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Our dataset 5 presidential democracies
432 Ministers, 25 women
Argentina
Chile
Colombia
U.S.
Costa Rica
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Minister Background, Connections Experience
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Benchmark 1 types of posts

• If women are equally represented in all types of
  posts then this indicates equal treatment
• But at least in the past women were typically
  appointed primarily to gender appropriate
  portfolios ? posts in a stereotypically feminine
  policy domain

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Types of Posts Policy Areas

• Economic ministries
• Agriculture
• Commerce Industry
• Mining, Energy Environment
• Finance/Treasury
• Planning
• Public Works Transportation
• Social Welfare ministries
• Education
• Health
• Housing Urban Development
• Labor Social Security
• Culture
• Womens Affairs
• Central ministries
• Defense
• Foreign Affairs
• Justice Public Security
• Presidency Communications.

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Types of Posts High Visibility

• Policy area was receiving higher media coverage
  or scrutiny at the time the minister was
  appointed.
• Dynamic measure based on policy area matching
  ministry purview being in top 5 answers on most
  important problem survey prior to appointment.

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Intersection and overlap Policy Area and High
Visibility
Economic Social National
High Visibility 38 R27.54 C77.91 56 R40.58 C40.88 44 R31.88 C31.88
Not High-Visibility 134 R43.37 C22.09 81 R26.21 C59.12 94 R30.42 C68.12
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Effect of Gender
Economic portfolios are comparison category.
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Conclusions about type of post

• Women are clearly still over-represented in
  Social Welfare posts under-represented in
  Central posts Finance
• Women are not under-represented in High
  Visibility posts
• Much of the evidence seems to indicate
  increasingly equal treatment

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Benchmark 2 legislative success

• If women have a batting average that is the same
  as the men, then this indicates equal
  effectiveness
• But, if women are now allowed to be present at
  the table, but nothing more, then they would be
  likely to be less active and less successful

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Legislative Activity

• Ministers can initiate bills in Argentina, Chile,
  Colombia Costa Rica
• Count of bills, laws single or co-authored
• Batting average islaws / bills

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Conclusions about legislative activity

• Women are not as active as their male colleagues
  at proposing bills. Why? We wish we knew
• BUT women men are equally effective at getting
  their legislation passed
• Evidence of equal effectiveness in getting
  executive branch legislation approved

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Benchmark 3 mode of exit

• If women are equally represented in all modes of
  exit then this indicates equal treatment
• Retire
• Switch post
• Survive till end of term
• Bad end
• Are men more likely to stay in post, while women
  were brought into the cabinet for the initial
  photo-op and then forced out?

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Mode of Exit
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Conclusions about mode of exit

• Men women exit in the same ways both positive
  and negative
• Women are as likely as men to survive in post
  until the end of the term
• Evidence indicates equal treatment

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Benchmark 4 time in post

• If women stay in post for the same length of time
  as the men, then this indicates equal
  effectiveness
• Are men more likely to stay in post, while women
  were brought into the cabinet for the initial
  photo-op and then forced out?

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Time in Post
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Conclusions about time in post

• Men women last the same amount of time in post
• Evidence of equal effectiveness in getting the
  job done, or cynically it appears to be equally
  costly to the president to remove a man or a
  woman

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Is gender integration happening?

• Evidence is mixed, but women appear to be
• just as effective
• and just as scandal-prone
• There are sex differences in some posts
• particularly Finance
• not as stark as would be expected if women were
  only considered competent to hold gender
  appropriate posts where political challenges are
  unlikely
• Overall evidence points to integration of women

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THANK YOU!

• Comments, suggestions VERY welcome!

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Tokens No More
Womens Representation and Presidential Cabinets
Maria Escobar-Lemmon Michelle M.
Taylor-Robinson Texas AM University