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Other Nations Have Been Putting Women in Charge. Where’s the United States?

As the race for the Democratic nomination heats up, the chances of the two remaining women appear to be fading. That has left some voters asking — again — whether the United States is ready to elect its first female president. But rather than looking inward, voters would do well to widen the horizon and look abroad.

<p>Finland&#8217;s Prime Minister Sanna Marin and Germany&#8217;s Chancellor Angela Merkel at a news conference in Berlin, Germany. February 19, 2020.</p>
Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel at a news conference in Berlin, Germany. February 19, 2020. Michele Tantussi/REUTERS

By experts and staff

Published

By

  • Alexandra Bro
    Research Associate, Women and Foreign Policy
  • Rachel B. Vogelstein
    Douglas Dillon Senior Fellow and Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program

As the race for the Democratic nomination heats up, the chances of the two remaining women appear to be fading. As Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg jostle for the lead, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) struggle to get coverage. That has left some voters asking — again — whether the United States is ready to elect its first female president.

But rather than looking inward, voters would do well to widen the horizon and look abroad. Since the end of World War II, 64 countries have had a female head of state, according to the Council on Foreign Relations’ Women’s Power Index, which ranks countries on their progress toward gender parity in political participation. These countries — from Bangladesh and Liberia to Germany and New Zealand — vary significantly in terms of the overall status of women in society.