Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

1. Will women in presidential cabinets be power players or tokens? Theory and expectations about women's inclusion

Part I: Country Background and Methodology

2. Politics of presidential cabinet making: Women's representation and rules of the game in 5 democracies
3. Defining the basis for comparing ministers

Part II: Who Gatekeepers Select as Ministers: Comparison of Men and Women

4. Policy expertise: When and where presidents appoint ministers with work and education background
5. Political skills: When and where presidents appoint ministers with political background and connections
6. Support resources: When and where presidents appoint ministers with links to clients of their department

Part III: Four Benchmarks for Comparing Treatment and Effectiveness of the Men and Women Appointed to Presidential Cabinets

7. Getting seats at the table, and not just in the "women's seat"
8. Surviving, retiring or being fired: Equal treatment in cabinet exits
9. Long stays or short: Equal treatment in duration in post
10. Making policy: Evidence of an unequal playing field

Part IV: Conclusions about Integration and Incorporation of Women in Cabinets

11. Minorities not tokens: Conclusions about equality of women in presidential cabinets

Notes
References
Index

About the Author

Maria C. Escobar-Lemmon is Associate Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M University.

Michelle M. Taylor-Robinson is Professor of Political Science and affiliated faculty in Women's and Gender Studies at Texas A&M University.

Reviews

"...provide[s] an impressive cross-national description of the women who joined the ranks of the political elite in recent decades."
--H-Net
"Escobar-Lemmon and Taylor-Robinson have produced an incredibly thorough and wide-ranging work on the presence of women in presidential cabinets. This work is highly recommended for anyone interested in political science, policy studies, and women's studies."
--CHOICE
"Over the past dozen years, Maria C. Escobar-Lemmon and Michelle M. Taylor-Robinson have firmly established themselves as the discipline's leading authorities on the participation and role of women in the cabinets of presidential democracies. Women in Presidential Cabinets refines and profoundly extends this impressive research agenda, simultaneously making a critical contribution to both the gender and politics and the comparative democratic institutions
literatures."
--Mark P. Jones, Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies, and Political Science Fellow, James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University
"Escobar-Lemmon and Taylor-Robinson's volume fills a glaring gap in the literature on presidential cabinets and at the same time elegantly engages work on women in politics, candidate selection, and political recruitment. It answers key questions about what women bring to the table as ministers, how they are treated in office, and how effective women ministers are compared to their male counterparts. Employing an impressive data set, rigorous methodology and
cogent arguments, this gem of a book sets a new scholarly standard for understanding the recruitment, treatment and performance of women ministers in presidential systems."
--Peter M. Siavelis, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, Wake Forest University
"With this book, Maria C. Escobar-Lemmon and Michelle M. Taylor-Robinson offer a much needed study of women in cabinet. The book goes well beyond the usual story of why fewer women than men get a seat at the cabinet table, and explores whether gender shapes career trajectories in cabinet, reasons for exiting cabinets, and level of legislative activity. Their findings reveal much about where women have made gains, and where progress has been slower. The book
will be essential reading for gender scholars as well as those studying cabinets and executive."
--Susan Franceschet, Professor of Political Science, University of Calgary