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Gender and Political Party Leadership in Canada

Department of Political Science, University of Calgary, bloneill{at}ucalgary.ca

David K. Stewart

Department of Political Science, University of Calgary, dstewart{at}ucalgary.ca

In this article, we compare the experiences of male and female party leaders at the provincial and federal levels in Canada between 1980 and 2005 and test several hypotheses regarding gender and party leadership. The Canadian case provides an excellent case study given the relatively large number of women (21 in total) who held the position of party leader during the time period in question. The case study reveals that major parties are less likely to elect women as their leaders, while parties on the ideological left are more likely than other parties to select women. The leadership races won by women are as competitive, if not more so, than those won by men, although the mandate secured by women leaders is less overwhelming. Not surprisingly, then, men are found to enjoy longer tenures as leaders than women, and, moreover, to enjoy greater electoral success.

Key Words: Canada • empirical research • gender • leadership • party leaders

Party Politics, Vol. 15, No. 6, 737-757 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1354068809342526


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