Women in politics

Women in politics have historically been underrepresented in Western socities compared to men. Many women, however, have been politically elected to be heads of state and government. Most prominent may be the female leaders of world powers such as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of Israel Golda Meir, Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, Prime Minister of Canada Kim Campbell, Prime Minister of France Edith Cresson, President of the People's Republic of China Soong Ching-ling (AKA Rosamond Soong), and Director of the Cultural Revolution, dictator Jiang Qing.

Women's suffrage

Executive branch of government

The Nordic countries have been forerunners in including women in the executive branch. The second cabinet Brundtland (1986-1989) were historical in that 8 out of 18 cabinet members were women, and in 2007 the second cabinet Stoltenberg (2005-present) was more than 50% women. Some current female politicians that have reached top positions in the Nordic countries are the President of Finland, Tarja Halonen and Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, Maud Olofsson.

The world's first elected female president was Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland, whose term lasted from 1980 to 1996.

In 2005, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia became Africa's first elected female head of state.

Currently, in Israel, women are heading two out of the three estates. Dorit Beinisch is the president of the Supreme Court (she is heading the Judiciary system), and Dalia Itzik is the Speaker of the Knesset (she is heading the legislature).If Tzipi Livni will achieve to form a coalition government, she will be the Prime Minister and will be heading the Executive. In this situation, Israel will be the first country in which all the three branches are headen by women.

Legislative branch of government

It was not until after World War I that the first few women became members of governments. Nina Bang, Danish Minister of Education from 1924-26, was the world's first full female cabinet minister. Nevertheless, development was slow and it was not until the end of the 20th century that female ministers stopped being unusual.

According to a 2006 report by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, 16% of all parliament members in the world are female. In 1995, the United Nations set a goal of 30%.cite news |author= |title=Women politicians 'making gains' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4758036.stm |work=BBC News |date=28 February 2006 |accessdate=2007-11-18 ]

The top ten countries are Rwanda with 48.8%, Sweden (45.3%), Norway (37.9%), Finland (37.5%), Denmark (36.9%), the Netherlands (36.7%), Spain (36%), Cuba (36%), Costa Rica (35.1%), Argentina (35%), and Mozambique (34.8%).b]

According to the same report, nine countries have no women parliament members.

The US House of Representatives contains 77 women, and the US Senate contains 16. Eight states have female governors. See also: Women in the United States House of Representatives, Women in the United States Senate, and List of female state governors in the United States.

International organizations

There has not yet been a female United Nations Secretary-General.

References

ee also

* List of the first female holders of political offices

External links

* [http://www.qub.ac.uk/cawp/ Centre for Advancement of Women in politics] (Queens University, Belfast