If she wins the presidential election in November, Kamala Harris will become the first woman to hold the highest office in the United States.
But Germany and the United Kingdom already have female leaders, and Italy, Denmark, Lithuania and Latvia all have female heads of government.
Why I wrote this
The story is
The United States achieved democracy earlier than most European countries, but it still lags behind Europe in terms of women's representation in leadership. Why is this difference?
So why are female political leaders so commonplace in Europe but still rare in the United States?
Experts say the answer comes from a combination of factors rooted in European and American media and culture.
Europe's strong welfare states make it easier for women to run for office, and Europe's proportional representation system – where parties only need to win the most votes to win seats – also helps to promote female politicians.
Overall, women are mentioned less in the media than men, which leads to reporting that makes women seem less likely to win, says social science researcher Amanda Haraldsson.
And when American women are reported, they are under pressure to be perfect, she adds: “Think about[Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]. Any little faux pas she makes gets a lot more attention than a man would.”
No woman has ever become president of the United States, and Kamala Harris is just the second person in history to be nominated for president by a major party.
But Germany is already led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, Britain by Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher, Theresa May and Liz Truss, Italy, Denmark, Lithuania and Latvia currently have Prime Ministers Giorgia Meloni, Mette Frederiksen, Ingrida Simonytė and Evica Sirinha, respectively, and Ursula von der Leyen has just been nominated for another term as President of the European Commission, one of the most powerful offices in the European Union.
So why are female political leaders so commonplace in Europe, yet still so rare in the United States, especially at the highest levels?
Why I wrote this
The story is
The United States achieved democracy earlier than most European countries, but it still lags behind Europe in terms of women's representation in leadership. Why is this difference?
Experts say the answer comes from a variety of factors rooted in European and American media and culture, including Europe's emphasis on work-life balance, gender quotas in government and proportional representation, which allows political parties to choose female leaders rather than directly elect them.
The media's treatment of women is also an important factor: Around the world, female candidates are generally mentioned less than men, and when U.S. media does focus on female candidates, they tend to emphasize their personal traits over their professional achievements. This can reinforce gender stereotypes and complicate how female politicians navigate the political environment.
“The challenges facing female candidates in America are like a long list. They're very broad, and they're challenged in many different ways,” says Laurie Nsia Jefferson, director of the Center for Women, Politics and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston. “They look at looks, they talk, they have a background. Voters are not going to be as willing to vote for a man for high office who they don't necessarily like but think is qualified. But they're also not going to be as willing to vote for a woman who they think is qualified but don't like.”
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel attended an event in Berlin on May 23, 2024.
The European Support Environment
European countries generally have strong welfare states and emphasize economic safety nets, work-life balance, social equality, and other policies that make it easier for women to run for office.
“The key difference is the structure of the welfare state: quality child care, quality public education, quality elderly care, things that are especially important for women to be able to combine work and family life,” says Lena Wengnerd, a political scientist at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. Scandinavian countries, with particularly strong welfare states, have been the most successful in helping women achieve high political positions, she says.
Proportional representation (where a party only needs to get the most votes, rather than a majority, to win seats) also helps the rise of women politicians in Europe, according to Wengnerd. Under this system, parties can deploy strategies of fielding multiple candidates per constituency, set aside “a woman for every two seats,” or similar gender quotas to increase female representation, he said.
In majoritarian systems like those in the US and UK, “women tend to be less elected because they have to be the winning candidate in their constituency, not just the winning candidate for their party”, she said.
What's more, the single-member district systems used in the UK and US create economic barriers that particularly affect women, says Christina Wilfor, an election expert and co-founder of the advocacy group #ShePersisted. In the US, “it costs $8.9 million to run for a seat,” but men have easier access to substantial fundraising networks, Wilfor said.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attends a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on July 29, 2024.
Media representation of female candidates also matters: in the United States, media outlets are often private, for-profit companies and are therefore encouraged to sensationalize their coverage. This contrasts with European countries such as Germany, where many media outlets are government-funded.
With negativity and stereotypes so prevalent, Dr Nsia Jefferson argues that the US media may be more likely to repeat these messages about female candidates.
“In Europe, you know, France, India, Germany and everywhere else, racism is so prevalent. The difference I see is how much attention this is getting in the news. It's not as much of a media hype[as it is in the U.S.].”
Overall, women receive less media coverage than men, and this “undercoverage” contributes to the perception that women are less likely to win, Vienna-based social science researcher Amanda Haraldsson said in an email.
And in the US, when women are featured in the media, they're usually touted as the highly exceptional new candidate, “putting pressure on these female candidates to be perfect”, says Dr Haraldsson.
“Think about (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez): Any small faux pas she makes, including her choice of clothing or makeup or the type of emotion she displays, will be noticed far more than a male candidate.”
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton speak during the second 2016 presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis on October 9, 2016.
Sexism and media scrutiny
Despite Europe's widespread presence on the list of countries that have produced female leaders, the situation for female politicians in Europe is still far from perfect.
There are wide variations across the continent, with women in Scandinavian countries faring the best. And when women have run for office in Europe, they have not always received positive treatment from the media and society.
Sexist attacks began immediately after Annalena Baabock was announced as Germany's Green Party's candidate to succeed Chancellor Merkel in 2021. She was frequently the target of sexist tropes and misinformation campaigns claiming she would ban pets and abolish widows' pensions.
British tabloids are also notoriously sexist: in 2017, the Daily Mail published a photo of Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and British Prime Minister Theresa May wearing knee-length skirts next to the headline “Forget Brexit, Who Won?”
“While many European countries have elected women to the highest political offices, unfortunately this does not mean that women candidates in Europe are faring much better,” Dr Haraldsson wrote.
When it comes to identity, Dr. Nsia Jefferson says Harris has more factors working against her than 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton: “Women of color are twice as likely as white candidates to be the target of misinformation, disinformation, and violent threats online. Plus, the internet and social media is on a different level than when Hillary was running. These sites, like[right-wing social media platforms]Truth Social, Rumble, and others, are influential and somehow a pipeline to the mainstream media.”
On the positive side, Dr Haraldsson says the sexist treatment of Clinton may have actually encouraged young women to get involved in politics.
“When young women in both the US and Europe see female role models being treated in a sexist manner, it gives them hope that they will become more interested in politics,” she says, “and maybe even inspire them to enter the political world in the future.”
