How women in the executive influence government stability

Abstract

Does the gender of prime ministers and cabinet ministers influence cabinet duration? We argue that the risk for early termination of cabinets decreases with women's presence in the executive. As scholars of social psychology indicate, women apply more consensual and compromise-oriented conflict resolution strategies. Disputes between or within governing parties, which ultimately lead to early termination, should therefore be less likely to emerge and escalate if the government is led by a woman or includes numerous female members. To test this rationale, we analyse a newly compiled, comprehensive dataset covering 676 governments in 27 European countries between 1945 and 2018 by relying on event history analysis. The results suggest that cabinets with a higher proportion of female cabinet members experience a lower risk of early cabinet termination. This article contributes to the study of women as political leaders through additional evidence for the gendered nature of leadership styles.

When Does She Rebel? How Gender Affects Deviating Legislative Behaviour

“…In legislatures, women tend to apply democratic and consensual strategies by investing more time and effort into creating within- and across-party coalitions (Carey et al 1998; Volden et al 2013). Recent literature also indicates that female ministers are more consensus- and compromise-oriented than their male colleagues, thus enhancing coalition stability (Krauss and Kroeber 2020).…”

The effect of female presence on corporate boards of directors on the value relevance of accounting amounts: empirical evidence from the European Union

“…As to the contribution to existing knowledge, this paper complements findings of scholars who have investigated the relationship between female presence and other dimensions of accounting quality (Garcia-Sanchez et al, 2017) and of those who have found the benefits of an increase in female findings offer an additional support to the European Union Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 according to which an increase in women's participation in the labor market has a strong, positive impact on the whole economy. (Krauss & Kroeber, 2020) or in public administration (Lapuente & Suzuki, 2020). In addition, findings of this paper participate into the debate regarding the ability of female presence on corporate boards to affect value relevance of accounting amounts.…”

“…Scholars belonging to this field have provided evidence that female presence and gender diversification might have different positive effects on the economy. For instance, Krauss and Kroeber (2020) showed a reduction in the risk of early government cabinet termination in the presence of a higher proportion of female cabinet members (Krauss & Kroeber, 2020). In addition, the results of multilevel model analysis found by Lapuente and Suzuki (2020) showed statistically significant gender differences in attitudes toward innovation, providing evidence that gender differences matter in public administrations.…”

Gender and Strategic Opposition Behavior: Patterns of Parliamentary Oversight in Belgium

“…First of all, we expect that female and male opposition MPs may differ in the extent to which they adhere to more or less conflictual strategies. Previous research highlights that women are more likely to display collaborative, compromise-oriented, and consensual behavior whereas men are more individualistic, aggressive, and competitive (Barnes, 2016;Eagly, 1987;Krauss & Kroeber, 2021;Volden et al, 2013). Both experimental work and qualitative research focusing on male and female political aspirants, candidates, and MPs show that women are generally more conflict-avoidant and risk-averse than men (Bauer & Darkwah, 2020;Kanthak & Woon, 2015;Preece & Stoddard, 2015).…”

“…Several studies show how MPs-including those of the opposition-use PQs strategically, for instance by signalling policy disagreement with a minister's policies, by trying to reveal disunity and conflicts among coalition partners, or by raising attention to one's own policy priorities (Otjes & Louwerse, 2018;Vliegenthart & Walgrave, 2011;Whitaker & Martin, 2021). However, simultaneously, substantial literature suggests that there are gendered legislative styles: Female politicians often tend to be more collaborative and consensus-seeking than their male counterparts, whereas men are more likely to have individualistic, competitive, and conflictual approaches (Barnes, 2016;Eagly, 1987;Krauss & Kroeber, 2021;Volden et al, 2013). This article argues that such nonconfrontational political styles might also come forward in female MPs' opposition behavior, and more specifically in their use of PQs.…”