Verónica Montecinos is Professor of Sociology at the Pennsylvania State University, Greater Allegheny, USA. She authored Economists, Politics and 
the State: Chile 1958 - 1994 (1998) and co-edited Economists in the 
Americas (2009). She has published essays on democratization, technocratic politics, history of economic ideas, and gender and pensions.

Notes on Contibutors

Introduction; Verónica Montecinos

Chapter 1. Women at the Top: Leadership, Institutions and the Quality of Democracy; Jane S. Jaquette

Chapter 2. Global Trends in Women's Executive Leadership; Farida Jalalzai

Chapter 3. Gender and Institutions in Post-Transition Executives; Catherine Reyes-Housholder, Leslie Schwindt-Bayer

Chapter 4. Cultural Explanations for Men's Dominance of National Leadership Worldwide; Elizabeth Yates, Melanie Hughes

Chapter 5. Dilma Rousseff (2011 - ): A Crisis of Governance and Consensus in Brazil; Fiona Macaulay

Chapter 6. Michelle Bachelet: Engendering Chile's Democratization; Verónica Montecinos

Chapter 7. Luísa Dias Diogo. Gender and Political Leadership in Mozambique;

Frances Henderson

Chapter 8. Assessing Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's Presidency: Effects on Substantive Representation in Liberia; Melinda Adams,

Chapter 9. Corazon Aquino: The Reluctant First Female President of the Philippines; Diana J. Mendoza, Jayme-Lao

Chapter 11. Iveta Radicova: The First Female Prime Minister of Slovakia; Sharon L. Wolchik

Conclusion, Verónica Montecinos

Index

This book contributes to our understanding of the trajectories and prerogatives of female political leaders in the varying context of democratization, political institutions and cultural norms. No woman had been elected leader of a country before 1960, but with democratic transitions on the rise since the 1970s, the number of women in executive office gradually became a trend of global scope. In 2015, nineteen countries had an elected female Head of State and/or Government, a proportionally small number that is expected to climb as more women compete for high office, sometimes against other female candidates. This volume compares how women executives differ in promoting gender equality and advocating for women's rights and interests, as well as in their ability to negotiate gender policy agendas. Comparative and theoretical chapters on post-transition women leaders are complemented by case studies in eight countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern and Central Europe. This book will be of use to students and scholars interested in gender studies, comparative politics, and political leadership.