Female National Executives in Asia: Family Ties Grant Institutional Privilege?

• In Event: Female Leaders, Male Privilege: Feminist Institutional Analyses of the Executive

Abstract

This paper analyzes the relevance of family ties for the recruitment and performance of chief executives––presidents or prime ministers––with special emphasis on whether family privilege can compensate for and help overcome gender-specific, institutional disadvantages and obstacles. Analyzing political chief executives in Asia over time, it examines how belonging to a political family (BPF) facilitates the ability of female candidates to gain national executive positions by providing advantages that outweigh gendered limitations, which political parties and governing institutions impose. This research examines relevant demographic information drawn from an original data set that includes almost all Asian countries (democratic and non-democratic) from 2000 to 2018. In conclusion, the paper considers why and how BPF can support and sustain female national executives, even when and where the institutional context generates norms and expectations that could otherwise limit their leadership.

Authors

• Farida Jalalzai, Oklahoma State University

• Meg Rincker, Purdue University Northwest