Women in Power

"Women in Power" presents profiles of 22 women who have been world leaders since 1960. Each chapter is devoted to a region of the world. Biographies of the political leaders are embedded within regional analyses that reveal not only the personal circumstances that each woman faced in her quest for power, but also the political milieu from which she emerged. The book discusses the obstacles these women faced, as well as the advantages they enjoyed, and examines the power relations between men and women. "Women in Power" also devotes a chapter to differing theories of women's leadership and various theories of feminism around the world. Finally, the books looks at the United States, asking how a country that can appear to be the bastion of women's liberation has only 15 percent representation of women in power and has had no female president to date. The authors end by exploring prospects for the 2008 U.S. presidential election and discuss potential female candidates.