Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T12:40:53.127Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sex, Survival, and Scandal: A Comparison of How Men and Women Exit Presidential Cabinets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2015

Maria C. Escobar-Lemmon  and
Michelle M. Taylor-Robinson
Maria C. Escobar-Lemmon
Affiliation:
Texas A&M University
Michelle M. Taylor-Robinson
Affiliation:
Texas A&M University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The process of selecting cabinet ministers often takes place behind closed doors, including weighing the need to balance or manage factions within the president's party and/or coalition partners; addressing demands for diversity in the cabinet, such as appointment of women or other historically underrepresented groups; sending signals about the administration's policy agenda; and enabling the president to have people he or she trusts close at hand. On the other hand, ministerial exits are usually less private affairs. In some cases they come after weeks of public or congressional scrutiny and criticism of ministers for policy failures or follow extended speculation about who will lose their seat when the president reshuffles the cabinet. Some ministers depart to pursue lucrative private-sector opportunities. Other ministers switch posts but stay in government. How ministers exit can have implications for the administration since a president who is frequently forced to shuffle the cabinet or sack ministers looks ineffective, and comparisons to rats and sinking ships are difficult to avoid in the wake of excessive changes. At the same time, an administration with zero turnover may also not be healthy, as it would suggest that presidents are staidly bound to their initial course of action and unable (or unwilling) to adapt to changing circumstances.

Type
Research Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , December 2015 , pp. 665 - 688
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Amorim Neto, Octavio. 2006. “The Presidential Calculus: Executive Policy Making and Cabinet Formation in the Americas.” Comparative Political Studies 39 (4): 415–40.Google Scholar
Andeweg, Rudy B. 2000. “Ministers as Double Agents? The Delegation Process between Cabinets and Ministers.” European Journal of Political Research 37 (3): 377–95.Google Scholar
Bäck, Hanna, Meier, Henk Erik, and Persson, Thomas. 2012. “Controlling Agency Loss: An Analysis of Ministerial Turnover in German and Swedish Post-War Cabinets.” Presented at the Midwest Political Science Association Conference, Chicago.Google Scholar
Berlinski, Samuel, Dewan, Torun, and Dowding, Keith. 2007. “The Length of Ministerial Tenure in the United Kingdom, 1945–97.” British Journal of Political Science 37 (2): 245–62.Google Scholar
Borrelli, MaryAnne. 2002. The President's Cabinet: Gender, Power, and Representation. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
Borrelli, MaryAnne. 2010. “Gender Desegregation and Gender Integration in the President's Cabinet, 1933–2010.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 49 (4): 734–49.Google Scholar
Camerlo, Marcelo. 2011. “Political Careers and Minister Turnover under Presidentialism.” Presented at the Quality and Professionalization of Politicians in Latin America and Europe Conference, Salamanca, Spain.Google Scholar
Carey, John M., Niemi, Richard G., and Powell, Lynda W.. 1998. “Are Women State Legislators Different?” In Women and Elective Office: Past, Present, and Future, ed. Thomas, Susan and Wilcox, Clyde. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cohen, Jeffrey E. 1988. The Politics of the U.S. Cabinet: Representation in the Executive Branch, 1789–1984. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.Google Scholar
Dewan, Torun, and Myatt, David P.. 2010. “The Declining Talent Pool of Government.” American Journal of Political Science 54 (2): 267–86.Google Scholar
Escobar-Lemmon, Maria C., and Taylor-Robinson, Michelle M.. 2005. “Women Ministers in Latin American Government: When, Where, and Why?” American Journal of Political Science 49 (4): 822–44.Google Scholar
Escobar-Lemmon, Maria C., and Taylor-Robinson, Michelle M.. 2009. “Getting to the Top: Career Paths of Women in Latin American Cabinets.” Political Research Quarterly 62 (4): 685–99.Google Scholar
Escobar-Lemmon, Maria C., and Taylor-Robinson, Michelle M.. N.d. Women in Presidential Cabinets: Power Players or Abundant Tokens? Oxford University Press, forthcoming.Google Scholar
Franceschet, Susan, and Piscopo, Jennifer. 2014. “Sustaining Gendered Practices? Power, Parties, and Elite Political Networks in Argentina.” Comparative Political Studies 47 (1): 85–110.Google Scholar
Fulton, Sarah A. 2012. “Running Backwards and in High Heels: The Gendered Quality Gap and Incumbent Electoral Success.” Political Research Quarterly 65 (2): 303–34.Google Scholar
Huber, John D., and Martinez-Gallardo, Cecilia. 2008. “Replacing Cabinet Ministers: Patterns of Ministerial Stability in Parliamentary Democracies.” American Political Science Review 102 (2): 169–80.Google Scholar
Indridason, Indridi H., and Kam, Christopher. 2005. “The Timing of Cabinet Reshuffle in Five Westminster Parliamentary Systems.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 30 (3): 327–63.Google Scholar
Indridason, Indridi H., and Kam, Christopher. 2008. “Cabinet Reshuffles and Ministerial Drift.” British Journal of Political Science 38 (4): 621–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacob, Suraj, Scherpereel, John, and Adams, Melinda. 2014. “Gender Norms and Women's Political Representation: A Global Analysis of Cabinets, 1979–2009.” Governance 28 (2): 321–45.Google Scholar
Jeydel, Alana, and Taylor, Andrew. 2003. “Are Women Legislators Less Effective? Evidence from the U.S. House in the 104 th–105th Congress.” Political Research Quarterly 56 (1): 19–27.Google Scholar
Kathlene, Lyn. 1994. “Power and Influence in State Legislative Policymaking: The Interaction of Gender and Position in Committee Hearing Debates.” American Political Science Review 88 (3): 560–76.Google Scholar
Kaufman, Herbert. 1981. The Administrative Behavior of Federal Bureau Chiefs. Washington, D.C.: Brookings.Google Scholar
Kellam, Marisa. 2013. “Parties for Hire: How Particularistic Parties Influence Presidents’ Governing Strategies.” Party Politics, doi: 10.1177/1354068813487109.Google Scholar
Keman, Hans. 1991. “Ministers and Ministries.” In The Profession of Government Minister in Western Europe, ed. Blondel, Jean and Thiébault, Jean-Louis. New York: St. Martin's Press, 99–118.Google Scholar
Krook, Mona Lena, and O'Brien, Diana Z.. 2012. “All the President's Men? The Appointment of Female Cabinet Ministers Worldwide.” Journal of Politics 74 (3): 840–55.Google Scholar
Lawless, Jennifer L., and Fox, Richard L.. 2005. It Takes a Candidate: Why Women don't Run for Office. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lawless, Jennifer L., and Pearson, Kathryn. 2008. “The Primary Reason for Women's Underrepresentation? Reevaluating the Conventional Wisdom.” Journal of Politics 70 (1): 67–82.Google Scholar
Luna, Elba, Roza, Vivian, and Vega, Gabriela. 2008. “El camino hacia el poder: Ministras latinoamericanas 1950–007.” Interamerican Development Bank, Programa de Apoyo al Liderazgo y la Representación de la Mujer (PROLID). http://www.iadb.org/document.cfm?id=1415084 (accessed March 17, 2014).Google Scholar
Scott, Mainwaring, and Shugart, Matthew Soberg, eds. 1997. Presidentialism and democracy in Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mann, Dean E., and Smith, Zachary A.. 1981. “The Selection of U.S. Cabinet Officers and Other Political Executives.” International Political Science Review 2 (2): 211–34.Google Scholar
Martin, Janet M. 1989. “The Recruitment of Women to Cabinet and Subcabinet Posts.” Western Political Quarterly 42 (1): 161–72.Google Scholar
Martin, Janet M. 1997. “Women Who Govern: The President's Appointments.” In The Other Elites: Women, Politics, and Power in the Executive Branch, ed. Borrelli, MaryAnne and Martin, Janet M.. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 51–72.Google Scholar
Morgan, Jana, and Hinojosa, Magda. 2015. “Women in Political Parties: Seen but not Heard.” Prepared for the Women, Representation, and Politics in Latin America Conference, Houston, TX.Google Scholar
Nicholls, Keith. 1991. “The Dynamics of National Executive Service: Ambition Theory and the Careers of Presidential Cabinet Members.” Western Political Quarterly 44 (1): 149–72.Google Scholar
Raile, Eric D., Pereira, Carlos, and Power, Timothy J.. 2011. “The Executive Toolbox: Building Legislative Support in a Multiparty Presidential Regime.” Political Research Quarterly 64 (2): 323–34.Google Scholar
Shugart, Matthew Soberg, and Carey, John M.. 1992. Presidents and Assemblies: Constitutional Design and Electoral Dynamics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Simon Rosenthal, Cindy. 2000. “Gender Styles in State Legislative Committees: Raising their Voices and Resolving Conflict.” Women and Politics 21 (2): 21–45.Google Scholar