Picking a Woman: When Are Women Most Likely to be Appointed to Supreme Courts?

• In Event: Pathways to Power

Abstract

Inclusion and diversity are important considerations in determining the composition of high courts. Yet, peak judicial institutions have historically been, and currently are, predominantly male. Especially in systems with life terms, opportunities to appoint can be sporadic and selectors do not know when another vacancy will occur. Given the need to balance many considerations, but very limited opportunities to appoint, when do selectors appoint a woman to the highest court versus a man? We expect that the appointment of a woman versus a man results from a combination of factors such as the characteristics of the selectors, the court itself, and public demand for the inclusion of women on the court. We expect that selectors from left-leaning parties, those subject to electoral pressure, and those in countries where women hold a larger number of seats in parliament will feel greater pressure to pick a woman rather than a man. Courts with fixed, short terms that maximize the chances a selector will be able to appoint multiple judges should be more likely to have a woman. Those which have not had a woman appointed to the high court previously may also be more likely. Finally, we expect when women are more politically organized women are more likely to be appointed. Our empirical approach allows us to identify when selectors will have the political will to pick a woman. We examine the appointment of judges to Supreme Courts in 20 democratic countries from 1970 to 2000. To increase comparability, we focus only on countries that have a single peak court and the power of judicial review. We focus only on democratic countries to ensure that electorally accountable selectors have reason to fear electoral consequences and to be responsive to public opinion. It also means that civil society and in particular women’s organizations should be able to organize without fear of government repression. To accurately model the nature of our data we use a hierarchical model taking into account individual as well as country-level variables. We begin our analysis in 1970, even if the country did not appoint the first woman until much later, because the first United Nations Conference on Women was held in 1975 in Mexico City. This conference raised international awareness of women’s issues and helped to put gender equality in decision-making bodies on the global agenda.

Authors

• Maria C. Escobar-Lemmon, Texas A&M University

• Valerie J. Hoekstra, Arizona State University

• Alice Kang, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

• Miki Caul Kittilson, Arizona State University