{"id":19838,"date":"2013-04-08T15:36:23","date_gmt":"2013-04-08T20:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/?p=19838"},"modified":"2013-04-08T15:42:43","modified_gmt":"2013-04-08T20:42:43","slug":"margaret-thatcher-and-women-in-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/2013\/04\/margaret-thatcher-and-women-in-government\/","title":{"rendered":"Margaret Thatcher and Women in Government"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n

— Margaret Thatcher<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of the world\u2019s most powerful women died<\/a> today.\u00a0 Margaret Thatcher, Britain\u2019s only woman prime minister, was 87.<\/p>\n

Thatcher, leader of the country\u2019s Conservative Party, was British prime minister from 1979 to 1990.\u00a0 According to CNN.com, she shared \u201ca close working relationship<\/a>\u201d with former President Ronald Reagan, \u201cwith whom she shared similar conservative views.\u201d Initially dubbed \u201cIron Lady\u201d<\/a> by Soviet journalists, she was well known (for better or for worse) for her personal and professional toughness. (For interesting commentary on Thatcher and her impact, see here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>.)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thatcher was a trailblazer, one of just a very few women to become heads of their country\u2019s government. While women make up nearly half of the world\u2019s population, worldwide, they represent roughly 16% of the members of national governing bodies<\/a>.\u00a0 In the United States, women account for only 18.1% of Congress<\/a>, 33% of the United States Supreme Court<\/a>, and no woman has ever been elected president.<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s the problem? Some would argue that there\u2019s nothing stopping women from running for office, even for president. True, there are no laws that outright prohibit women\u2019s participation in government.\u00a0 (Saudia Arabia, long the hold out on allowing women to vote and to serve in government, has finally reversed course<\/a>.)\u00a0 But there are other barriers that may be less obvious.<\/p>\n

First, one barrier that plagues many potential candidates, but especially women: money. Especially in the United States, it costs a great deal<\/a> to mount a campaign. Women, more than men, have fewer available assets to put toward their own campaigns and may also be hindered in fundraising.<\/p>\n

Second, the type of governmental system matters.\u00a0 Women tend to fare<\/a> better where there is proportional representation than where there is, like in the United States, a \u201cwinner takes all\u201d system. In a proportional representation system, there are multi-member districts, where several people are elected, and the seats are divided in proportion to the votes received by a particular party or group.\u00a0 If there are, say, 10 seats in a given district and, say, the Labor Party wins 40% of the vote, then members of the Labor Party get 4 seats.\u00a0 See here<\/a> and here<\/a>. In the United States, however, we have a single-winner system. For example, there are 100 seats in the Senate, two from each state. And while multiple people may run for a seat in the Senate, only one person will win it.<\/p>\n

Third, and perhaps most significant, are cultural reasons. Women may not believe they can serve as political representatives; they may not believe themselves smart enough or educated enough. They, more than their male colleagues, are likely to be the primary caregivers in their families and their family responsibilities may be (or certainly may feel) incompatible with public representation.\u00a0 And men, whether as voters or as colleagues in Congress may believe, even if subconsciously, that politics is no place for a woman.<\/p>\n

Women also suffer the perennial problem of likeability versus competence.\u00a0 While men are presumed to be competent, women must prove their competence. And for some reason, it is difficult for people to believe a woman can be both<\/i> competence and<\/i> likeable.\u00a0 The two main female candidates from the 2008 presidential election illustrate this point perfectly. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was perceived as entirely competent, although not very likeable. She has been called, among other things, \u201cfeisty,\u201d an adjective that my colleague Scott Idleman wonders<\/a> was meant in a sexist way. Prime Minister Thatcher, while called the presumably complementary \u201cIron Lady,\u201d was also referred to with the less flattering \u201cAttila the Hen<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was perceived as very likeable, albeit not very competent. (This classic Saturday Night Live clip<\/a> from 2008 humorously illustrates this point, as well as addresses sexism in the media coverage of both women candidates.) My colleague Andrea Schneider has written an interesting paper about likeability and competence, particularly for women lawyers.\u00a0 You can find the blog post here<\/a>, which links to the paper.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s lack of representation at numbers even close to their proportion of the population is important for a couple of reasons.\u00a0 First, evidence suggests<\/a> that women may be likely to raise issues normally not considered\u2014or not considered important\u2014by their male colleagues.\u00a0 Women also can provide different points of view on the issues and policies being debated. Others suggest that women may approach legislating and leading differently than men.\u00a0 See here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a> for example.<\/p>\n

While we mourn Margaret Thatcher\u2019s passing, we also need more women like her\u2014smart and strong enough to break through barriers to serve in our representative government.<\/p>\n

[Editor’s note:\u00a0 I just received this link<\/a>.\u00a0 A recent study shows that when the media focus on a woman candidate’s appearance, she is less likely to be elected, even if what’s been said is positive.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.\u201d — Margaret Thatcher One of the world\u2019s most powerful women died today.\u00a0 Margaret Thatcher, Britain\u2019s only woman prime minister, was 87. Thatcher, leader of the country\u2019s Conservative Party, was British prime minister from 1979 to 1990.\u00a0 According to CNN.com, she shared \u201ca […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,19,86,20,44,37,122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-election-law","category-federal-law-legal-system","category-feminism","category-international-law","category-political-processes-rhetoric","category-popular-culture-and-law","category-public","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19838\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}