Gendering Cabinet Reshuffles in France and Spain

Abstract

Presidents and prime ministers who form gender-parity cabinets receive positive news coverage and public praise. Cabinet reshuffles, with less attention, may offer scope to decrease the numbers of female ministers. Although research on the gendered impact of reshuffles is sparse, some studies suggest that women's presence declines during reshuffles. This article explores the gendered dynamics of reshuffles that follow initial gender-parity cabinets, asking whether the reshuffle context affects the proportions of men and women in reorganized cabinet teams. Employing a comparative case study approach, the article analyses initial gender-parity cabinets and subsequent reshuffled cabinets in France and Spain across three different presidents and prime ministers. We find that gender parity functions as a concrete floor, sustained in cabinet reshuffles, unaffected by political shocks and party system changes, and without consequence for women's appointments to high-prestige ministerships.

Consolidating Progress: The Selection of Female Ministers in Autocracies and Democracies

“…A large body of research further suggests that significant differences in policy preferences exist between men and women (e.g., Aidt and Dallal 2008; Kittilson 2011) and that social policy becomes more balanced between these competing preferences when more women attain positions of political power (Atchison 2015; Clayton and Zetterberg 2018; Kittilson 2011). All this leads gender-parity cabinets to receive public praise and positive media coverage (Beckwith and Franceschet 2022).…”

The Comparative Politics of Cabinet Reshuffles

“…They find that political leaders who construct gender-parity cabinets tend to maintain them. There is no evidence that women ministers are disadvantaged in the process of cabinet reshuffles, though full gender equality continues to remain elusive, with men being considerably more likely to serve in high-prestige portfolios (Beckwith and Franceschet 2022).…”

Untitled

“…años desde seminales trabajos hacia fines de los 80 y 90 (J. M. Martin, 1989;Moon & Fountain, 1997;Reynolds, 1999;Siaroff, 2000;D. T. Studlar & Moncrief, 1997), hasta otros más recientes (Armstrong et al, 2023;Barragán & Rodríguez, 2023;Gatto et al, 2022;Höhmann, 2022;Kroeber & Hüffelmann, 2022;Nyrup et al, 2023), buscando dar claridad a un proceso que acontecía en todo el mundo: el crecimiento de la participación de las mujeres en los ministerios (Annesley et al, 2019;Arriola & Johnson, 2014;Beckwith & Franceschet, 2022;Bego, 2014;Borrelli, 2010;Claveria, 2014;M. C. Escobar-Lemmon & Taylor-Robinson, 2016;Krook & O'Brien, 2012;Stockemer & Sundström, 2018).…”

“…Esta literatura ha sido especialmente exhaustiva para los sistemas parlamentarios o semi-presidenciales de Europa Occidental o de países de la OECD 3 (Annesley, 2015;Annesley & Gains, 2010;Baumann et al, 2019;Beckwith & Franceschet, 2022;Behr & Michon, 2013;Claveria, 2014;Davis, 1997;Field, 2020;Goddard, 2021;Heppell, 2012;Höhmann, 2022;J. R. Martin, 2018;O'Brien et al, 2015;Scherpereel et al, 2020;D.…”

“…M. Martin, 1989). Otro grupo estudió los efectos del aumento del número de mujeres en los gabinetes sobre un conjunto de cuestiones como las políticas públicas (Atchison, 2010(Atchison, , 2015, la participación ciudadana (Liu & Banaszak, 2017), la duración de los gobiernos (J. R. Martin, 2018), la duración de las mujeres en los gabinetes (Beckwith & Franceschet, 2022;M. C. Escobar-Lemmon & Taylor-Robinson, 2015) o sobre el tipo de designaciones que realizan las ministras una vez en el poder (Field, 2020).…”