Breaking the Final Glass Ceiling: The Influence of Gender in the Elections of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Michelle Bachelet

Abstract

The article extends the limited literature on women national leaders by providing a comparative study of two popularly elected women presidents: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Liberia and Michelle Bachelet in Chile. Both Bachelet and Johnson-Sirleaf rose to power in situations that lacked the circumstances identified by current literature as mitigating gendered barriers to national leadership: neither woman was connected to politically powerful families, they were elected in presidential systems, and they were elected in countries that lag behind regional leaders in terms of women's political inclusion. This comparison reveals important similarities in how both Bachelet and Johnson-Sirleaf incorporated gender into their campaign strategies. Both women pursued electoral strategies that combined attempts to confront gendered disadvantages and to take advantage of specific gendered opportunities present within their political contexts. Both women drew upon their personal biographies, highlighting their education and careers, and political experience to demonstrate that they had the traditionally masculine traits associated with political leadership. In addition, they also strategically appealed to gendered beliefs about women's unique capabilities and strengths and linked these perceived strengths to pressing political issues in both countries. Our study thus demonstrates the continuing salience of gender, even as its influence becomes more flexible and complex.

KEYWORDS:

• women's political representation
• elections
• campaigns
• political leadership
• Michelle Bachelet
• Chile
• Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
• Liberia

Notes

1. To maintain as tight of a comparison as possible, we chose to exclude sources that were not available for both countries. In particular, this limited our use of public opinion polls and polling data about the relationship between gender and politics generally (such as found in the World Values Survey) and about perceptions of the particular candidates as this type of data was either not available or not reliable in the Liberian case.

2. From 1996–1997, Ruth Perry served as the chair of a six-member Council of State appointed to oversee Liberia during the transition to new elections and thus became Africa's first female head of state. However, she was not elected, and the Council was seen as more of a symbolic institution.

3. Pham, Peter. 2006. Personal communication.