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This new book is the result of an international research project that spanned nearly a decade. Authors from a half-dozen countries discuss women's roles in public administration in the context of their overall participation in the labor force. Women and Public Administration presents some astounding results derived from the authors'research into a particular country's government, politics, and the role of women in that country. The authors, women born and currently living in India, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, and the United States, discuss four main topics: the numbe

This timely collection reviews the field of gender and politics and its relationship to the discipline of political science at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The authors recognize and document the Eurocentric focus that has characterized both fields and suggest viable alternatives for the future. This volume identifies major questions raised by scholars in several regions of the world and summarizes so-me of their findings.This truly global collection acknowledges the different nature of gender and politics as a field of study in regions beyond the European and Anglo-American academic realm. Four major approaches are presented by contributors from Latin America, Africa, South Asia, Europe, the United States and Oceania.

An examination of similarities & differences between women & men in high-ranking public administration positions in the US. Using questionnaire & interview data taken from 31 female (F) & 28 male (M) top administrators in 2 departments in the US federal government, 1 having traditionally F-type responsibilities, (Health & Human Services [HHS]) & the other having traditionally M-type responsibilities (Treasury [T]), findings are reported concerning socialization, education, career histories, job responsibilities, management styles, special skills, networks, life situations, job satisfaction, & social & economic origins. The data, gathered 1985-1987, reveal the respondents as a whole to be a very highly educated group, from a variety of social backgrounds, hardworking, & performing demanding, highly challenging jobs that they find very satisfying. A major finding concerns the difference in organizational culture that existed in the 2 departments. HHS not only had a higher % of Fs in top positions (16%, compared with 5% in the T), but top Fs in HHS were more comfortable identifying themselves with feminist causes & more likely to mentor other Fs. Top Fs in the T were more concerned with convincing themselves & others of their competence without reference to sex or gender. Differences between Ms & Fs surfaced in marriage & family statistics, career histories, & management styles. Structural factors suggest that the % of Fs in top administrative positions in the federal government will remain at current low levels. 4 Tables, 6 References. AA

A conclusion to a symposium on women in public administration (see related abstracts in this section of SA 40:5) that compares the results of questionnaire & interview data gathered 1985-1987 in six different countries: India, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, the Netherlands, the Federal Republic of Germany, Finland, & the US. Women were present in limited numbers in the top levels of the bureaucracies in all countries, ranging from 1% to 11%. All had high levels of education. All reported experiencing discrimination & gender-related barriers to advancement, as well as the heavy burden of family, marriage, & child care. The top female (F) administrators tend to adapt to the existing (often male [M]) norms of the organizations that they work in rather than confronting or rebelling against such norms. The social origins of top F administrators varied: in India, they came primarily from upper-income groups; in the US, from all social class backgrounds; & in Bulgaria, primarily from non-college-educated parents. Marital status varied from country to country. While similarities may exist between top women administrators in different countries, the different histories, economies, labor markets, governments, cultures, religions, & political ideologies of these countries differ significantly & obviate simple correlational explanations for why or how women have been able to obtain positions in higher administration. 2 Tables, 10 References. AA

Assesses how circumstances generated by the North American Free Trade Agreement have impacted gender regimes & raised political consciousness among women in Chiapas, Mexico, & the US-Mexican border. Information was drawn from research on globalization's potential to prompt social change in/among women; arguments about how women move from powerlessness to political awareness; & S. Sassen's (1996) concept of strategic sites of globalization. The conflict in Chiapas represents a confrontation between subsistence agriculture & the forces of globalization. It is shown that gender regimes were changed by the role of women in the Chiapas grassroots army where women make up a third of the force & are accepted as generals/military leaders. An examination of conditions along the US-Mexican border addresses the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras; sexual harassment; & the emergence of political resistance by women concerned with such injustices as poor working conditions & the pregnancy test requirement for employment. It is concluded that globalization creates diverse gender regimes that have the potential to change the gender order of the entire society. J. Lindroth

An introductory chapter notes that the aim of the book is to incorporate gender analysis into a critical study of the processes of globalization & democratization. Robert Connell's (1987) concept of gender as an active process that creates divisions of labor, power, emotions, identity, behavior, & dress is used to show how economic aspects of 20th-century globalization have impacted gender relations. "Full" democracy is described as one in which institutionalized gender regimes are truly egalitarian. The complex relationship between globalization & democratization is discussed to contend that globalization represents economic forces that change both the division of labor between the sexes & the nature of the state. The contributors give considerable attention to tensions that exist between gender regimes that determine work relations & those that operate within the family. The interdisciplinary essays offer regional perspectives on varied characteristics of globalization & address contradictions generated by the link between globalization & democratization as social movements. Case studies from around the world assess the prospects for gender regime change & increased democratization. J. Lindroth