Breaking the Latin American Glass Ceiling: An Analysis of the Southern Cone Female Presidents’ Paths to Power
Date
2015-05
Authors
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
This paper will examine the political and social environments in Argentina and
Chile prior to Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Michelle Bachelet’s elections to
their respective presidencies. The ways in which both countries viewed women in
politics matters for how and why these two politicians were elected in the patriarchal
region of Latin America. Argentina is known as a progressive country for women
because of Eva Perón’s vivacious personality, Isabel Perón’s first female presidency
worldwide, the famous Madres de la Plaza de Mayo movement, and the creation of the
world’s first legislative gender quota. Chile, on the other hand, has a history of
excluding women from both politics and the public sphere, and Augusto Pinochet’s
seventeen-year long military dictatorship furthered this public-private divide for
women. Interestingly enough, though, within the past decade, both countries have
witnessed the election and reelection of a woman to the presidency. Cristina
Fernández de Kirchner, whose husband was her presidential predecessor, was
committed to social justice and her femininity, much like her role model, Eva Perón.
Michelle Bachelet was instead dedicated to creating a new precedent for women in
government in Chile and utilized her feminist ideals in the process. This paper will
explain Argentina and Chile’s differing women’s political histories, demonstrate how
and why each woman was elected in her respective country, and compare both
women’s paths to presidential power. This topic is important because there is a lack of
female leaders worldwide; therefore, by studying and examining two distinct countries
with successful female presidential elections, political patterns can develop.
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Keywords
International Relations, Political Science