Cracking the (Conservative) Glass Ceiling. Why do Some Conservative Women become the First Executive Leader of a Country?

NOTE: This Paper was originally submitted as an individual Paper submission. I am including it on this Panel now. This Paper will explore a little known paradox: in some countries, it is women from conservative parties who first break through the highest and toughest glass ceiling in politics: presidencies or prime ministerships. The goal of this paper is to apply the literature on women in executive leadership to the role of conservative parties. While much of the literature has focused on conditions that prompt women to enter the executive, little knowledge exists on the link between women in the executive and political parties, particularly conservative ones. It is this gap that the paper will address. To do so, we are analyzing all cases of women executives coming to power from 1960-2016, observing geographical, temporal, or socio-demographic trends among conservative and leftist female leaders. A related question we pose is whether the type of conservative party matters for women to ascend to executive power. We conclude by proposing several hypotheses that might explain the rise of women from