Collaborative Research: Women as Leaders, Policy-Makers, and Symbols

长期以来，妇女被剥夺了担任最有权力的政治职位的机会，特别是在行政分支中享有声望的内阁职位。该项目审查了将妇女排除在国防、内政/内务和外交这三个最有权力的内阁职位之外以及任命妇女担任这三个职位的原因和后果。这些重要职位影响着政策，因此，解释妇女何时、为何以及如何获得这些职位，以及了解妇女的参与如何塑造对国家运作至关重要的政策，是至关重要的。本项目的核心主张是，妇女担任政治职务塑造了对该职位的政策责任的信念，并受到这种信念的塑造。虽然所研究的每个投资组合都有不同的职责，但它们都关注安全性（即，保护国家免受国内和国际威胁）。第一组假设假定，当部长的重点从传统的男性政策领域（如恐怖主义和战争）扩展到强调维持和平和人权等问题时，妇女可以进入内阁内部。第二组假设表明，男女部长的政策优先事项在很大程度上是由使妇女进入（或离开）办公室的条件而不是天生的性别差异来解释的。第三组假设认为，女部长的任命会影响公民对这些职位的目标和声望的信念，并影响他们对部长、部委和国家的信任和信心程度。因此，该项目通过收集原始数据来检验这些假设，从而推动了对妇女政治代表性的科学研究。该项目提供了第一个关于内阁内部妇女的世界性研究，并提供了一个框架，以评估妇女在其他领域担任男性主导的职位的原因和后果。在这样做的过程中，该项目制定了一个新的框架，解释妇女何时进入传统上由男性主导的领域，以及她们的权力之路如何影响政策结果和公民与国家的关系，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的评估，被认为值得支持。影响审查标准。

Women have long been denied access to the most powerful political posts, particularly prestigious cabinet positions within the executive branch. This project examines the causes and consequences of women’s exclusion from, and appointment to, three of the most powerful cabinet posts: defense, interior/home affairs, and foreign affairs. These prominent positions policy influence and it is thus vital to explain when, why, and how women access these portfolios, as well as to understand how women’s inclusion shapes policies that are central to the functioning of the state.The central claim of this project is that women’s presence in political office shapes, and is shaped by, beliefs about the policy responsibilities of the position. Though each of the portfolios studied has distinct responsibilities, they share a focus on security (i.e., protecting the state from domestic and international threats). The first set of hypotheses posits that women access the inner cabinet when the portfolios’ focus expands beyond traditionally masculine policy arenas (such as terrorism and war) to emphasize issues like peacekeeping and human rights. The second set of hypotheses suggests that male and female ministers’ policy priorities are largely explained by the conditions that bring women into (or keep them out of) office, rather than innate gender differences. The third set of hypotheses posits that the appointment of female ministers affects citizens’ beliefs about the aims and prestige of these positions and informs their levels of trust and confidence in the minister, the ministry, and the state. This project thus advances the scientific study of women’s political representation by collecting original data to test these hypotheses. This project offers the first worldwide study of women in the inner cabinet and a framework for assessing the causes and consequences of women’s access to male-dominated posts in other realms. In doing so, the project develops a new framework for explaining when women access traditionally masculine domains and how their pathways to power affect policy outcomes and citizens’ relationship to the state, we well as compiles a global database on women’s cabinet appointments and policy outputs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.