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In Crisis or Decline? Selecting Women to Lead Provincial Parties in Government

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2018

Melanee Thomas
Melanee Thomas*
Affiliation:
University of Calgary
*
Department of Political Science, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, email: thomasm@ucalgary.ca
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Abstract

The majority of Canada's women premiers were selected to that office while their parties held government. This is uncommon, both in the comparative literature and among premiers who are men. What explains this gendered selection pattern to Canada's provincial premiers’ offices? This paper explores the most common explanation found in the comparative literature for women's emergence as leaders of electorally competitive parties and as chief political executives: women are more likely to be selected when that party is in crisis or decline. Using the population of women provincial premiers in Canada as case studies, evidence suggests three of eight women premiers were selected to lead parties in government that were in crisis or decline; a fourth was selected to lead a small, left-leaning party as predicted by the literature. However, for half of the women premiers, evidence of their party's decline is partial or inconclusive. As a result of this exploration, more research is required to draw generalizations about the gendered opportunity structures that shape how women enter (and exit) the premier's office in Canada.

Résumé

La majorité des femmes premières ministres de provinces canadiennes ont été choisies pour occuper ce poste alors que leur parti politique était au pouvoir. Ceci est inhabituel, aussi bien dans la littérature comparée que parmi les homologues masculins. Comment s'explique le schéma sexospécifique présidant au choix de la fonction de premier ministre provincial? Cet article examine l'explication la plus courante qui ressort de la littérature comparée sur l’émergence des femmes leaders des partis compétitifs et chefs de l'exécutif politique : les femmes sont plus susceptibles d’être choisies lorsque le parti traverse une crise ou est en recul. Les données issues des études de cas portant sur la population des femmes premières ministres des provinces canadiennes suggèrent que trois femmes premières ministres sur huit ont été choisies pour diriger des partis dans des gouvernements en crise ou en déclin; une quatrième a été sélectionnée pour diriger un petit parti de gauche selon les prédictions de la littérature à l’étude. Toutefois, en ce qui concerne la moitié d'entre elles, les données attestant d'un recul du parti d'appartenance sont partielles ou peu probantes. À la suite de cet examen, une recherche plus approfondie s'impose avant de pouvoir tirer des généralisations sur les structures des possibilités sexospécifiques qui déterminent le cadre dans lequel les femmes accèdent au poste de première ministre au Canada (ou le quittent).

Type
Research Article/Étude originale
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 51 , Issue 2 , June 2018 , pp. 379 - 403
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2018 

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Footnotes

I would like to thank David Stewart, Amanda Bittner, David McGrane, Graham White, and the anonymous reviewers for comments on a previous draft of this paper. My thanks, too, to John Santos for his research assistance.

*

This article was submitted prior to the author's transition to the English-language editorial team of the Canadian Journal of Political Science. To maintain objectivity, the outgoing English-language editor maintained responsibility for the submission post transition, and the new editorial team blinded from the review process.

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