July 13, 2018
Spain鈥檚 majority-female cabinet embodies women鈥檚 global rise to power
Gender-equal governments, which include the same number of men and women as ministry heads and in other cabinet posts, used to be the purview of and highly progressive societies like Canada and .
No longer.
Mexico鈥檚 president-elect Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrador, who takes office in December, has that women will hold in his 16-member cabinet, including the powerful secretary of the interior position.
And Spain鈥檚 new prime minister, Pedro S谩nchez, recently became the first world leader of cabinet positions. No country in the world has a higher proportion of female-led ministries. Thirty years ago, Spain had .
Women hold just 20 per cent of cabinet positions in the United States and 28 percent in the United Kingdom. Worldwide, the average is .
As who study , we believe the quick, steady rise of women to power in Spain embodies a trend we have observed worldwide: Once more women , their numbers tend only to rise.
We call this the 鈥渃oncrete floor鈥 for women鈥檚 political representation. For a democratic government to have these days, 鈥 that is, for the general public to have faith in its decisions 鈥 it must include women.
Gains beget gains
Women鈥檚 representation doesn鈥檛 necessarily go up with each new administration.
But in studying the composition of initial governing cabinets 鈥 those formed right after an election 鈥 in Spain, France, Australia, the United States, Canada, Chile and the United Kingdom from 1929 to 2016, we found that women鈥檚 presence did rise cumulatively, over time and across party lines, in these countries.
After a 40-year dictatorship led by General Francisco Franco, democracy returned to Spain in 1977. But it would take more than a decade for women to be included in Spain鈥檚 newly democratic government. Socialist Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez didn鈥檛 appoint women to an initial cabinet until his third electoral win in 1989, when he .
The next administration, led by conservative prime minister Jos茅 Mar铆a Aznar, raised the total with four in his 14-member cabinet.
Spain鈥檚 historic breakthrough came in 2004, when Socialist Prime Minister Jos茅 Luis Rodr铆guez Zapatero, , named the country鈥檚 first gender-equal cabinet: .
Spain got its first gender-equal cabinet in 2004.
AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza
Now 11 of Spain鈥檚 17 ministers are women, including 鈥 for the first time in Spain鈥檚 history 鈥 the position of finance minister.
France鈥檚 recent history looks similar.
President Nicolas Sarkozy appointed seven women to his 15-member cabinet in 2007. His successor, Socialist , had 17 women in his 34-member cabinet. Cabinet size in most countries varies from administration to administration.
On the campaign trail in 2016, President promised to have equal representation. Today, his cabinet contains 11 women and 11 men.
Voters like gender-inclusive governments
Our research shows that when leaders use their powers of appointment to , they are never punished electorally and are often globally for doing so.
Just a few years ago Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was celebrated around the world for assembling a gender-equal cabinet. His reasoning? 鈥,鈥 he told reporters.
Why have a gender-parity government? 鈥楤ecause it鈥檚 2015.鈥
Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP
Leaders who appoint significantly fewer women than their predecessors, on the other hand, risk heavy criticism from the media and political opponents. That can weaken their support among voters.
When Australian prime minister Tony Abbott appointed to his cabinet in 2013, he had to justify his 鈥渆mbarassing鈥 decision to voters, the opposition party and the press. His predecessor鈥檚 government had included three female cabinet members.
Malcolm Turnbull replaced Abbott two years later and quickly appointed to his governing team.
Each gender-equal cabinet appears to create expectations of similar or greater women鈥檚 inclusion in the next.
The 鈥榗oncrete floor鈥
We did find several instances where leaders appointed fewer women than their predecessors. However, the decline is generally minimal.
In Chile鈥檚 first post-dictatorship government, elected in 1990, President Patricio Aylwin apointed of cabinet posts.
Chile鈥檚 first female president, Socialist Michelle Bachelet, had a in 2006. Four years later, her conservative successor, Sebasti谩n Pi帽era, appointed . While his government was not gender-equal, women were significantly better represented than they had been before Bachelet鈥檚 administration.
We call this phenomenon the 鈥渃oncrete floor.鈥 It is the minimal threshold of women鈥檚 inclusion for people to see a leader鈥檚 cabinet as democratically legitimate.
And unlike the 鈥済lass ceiling,鈥 that subtle, that has kept women out of powerful positions, the concrete floor ensuring their inclusion in government is visible to 鈥 and recognized by 鈥 all the leaders we studied.
Gender diversity is the only guarantee
A similar standard applies to certain in the some, but not all, of the countries we studied.
In Canada, Germany and Spain, for example, cabinets must be geographically representative. Like those countries, the United States also has a federal system of government, but American presidents are not expected to ensure that cabinet posts go to people from different states or regions.
In Canada and the United States, all-white cabinets are now virtually unthinkable. President Lyndon Johnson appointed United States鈥 first 鈥 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Robert C. Weaver 鈥 in 1966. became Canada鈥檚 first-ever black minister in 1979.
Few Western democratic government cabinets look like this anymore.
AP Photo
Meanwhile, cabinets in and Spain 鈥 both increasingly diverse countries 鈥 remain entirely white. The lone , Rita Bosaho, wasn鈥檛 elected until 2015. No racial minority has ever held a Spanish cabinet position.
Gender was the only required representational criterion that appeared across all seven countries we studied, where for a quarter-century.
Women make up half the world鈥檚 population. Now, increasingly and evidently irreversibly, democratic governments are starting to show it.