Gender & Foreign Policy: Do Women in the State Department Lead Differently? (Pre-Recorded)

• In Event: The Effects of Leaders' Gender on Foreign Policy Decision-making

Abstract

The question of whether women make foreign policy decisions differently than men is still much debated by scholars. This paper offers a novel way of addressing this debate by considering the impact of gender on the foreign policy decision making of Secretaries of State. Secretaries of State play a crucial role in shaping the agenda of an administration, the tone of diplomacy, and the structure of the agency they lead. As agents of the president they are expected to carry out the policy preferences of the administration they serve, yet they have great influence on the means by which those policy ends are achieved. If gender is a significant factor in shaping foreign policy then we should observe differences in the leadership styles of Secretaries of State of different genders who serve the same administration. To test this argument we present an analysis of the leadership traits of six Secretaries of State -- three men, three women, who served three different presidents. (e.g. Warren Christopher, Madeline Albright, Condolezza Rice, Colin Powell, Hillary Clinton, and John Kerry).

Authors

• Maryann E. Gallagher, University of Georgia

• Jena Jibreen