Gender Stereotypes and Media Bias in Women’s Campaigns for Executive Office: The 2009 Campaign of Dora Bakoyannis for the Leadership of Nea Dimokratia in Greece

by Stefanos Oikonomou

B.A. in Communications and Media Studies, February 2010, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

A Thesis submitted to

The Faculty of College of Professional Studies of The George Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Professional Studies

August 31, 2014

Thesis directed by

Michael Cornfield Associate Professor of Political Management

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my parents, Stella Triantafullopoulou and Kostas Oikonomou, to whom this work is dedicated, for their continuous love, support, and encouragement and for helping me realize my dreams.

I would also like to thank Chrysanthi Hatzimasoura and Philip Soucacos, for their unyielding friendship, without whom this work would have never been completed.

Finally, I wish to express my gratitude to Professor Michael Cornfield for his insights and for helping me cross the finish line; Professor David Ettinger for his guidance during the first stage of this research and for helping me adjust its scope; and the Director of

Academic Administration at The Graduate School of Political Management, Suzanne

Farrand, for her tremendous generosity and understanding throughout this process.

ii Table of Contents

Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………..ii

List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………….vi

List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………….vii

Thesis Statement…………………………………………………………………………..1

Chapter 1: Introduction……..………………….……………………………………......

1.1 The Inevitable Winner……….…………………………………………………2

1.2 This Woman….……………………………………………………………..…..6

1.3 Research Questions……….…………………………………………………...11

1.4 Thesis Overview………………………………………………………………12

Chapter 2: Gender and Politics……….……………….…………………………………

2.1 Women in Politics……..………………………………………………………14

2.2 Gender Stereotypes in Politics………………………………………………...18

2.3 Gender and Executive Office…………..……………………………………...23

2.4 Pathways to Executive Power…...…………………………………………….35

2.4.1 Shattered Ceilings………………………………………………...35

2.4.2 Institutional Factors………………………………………………36

2.4.3 Familial Connections……………………………………………..38

2.4.4 Environment of Crisis…………………………………………….39

2.5 Practical Implications………….……………………………………………….42

Chapter 3: Gender and Media Coverage……………………………………...…………

3.1 Mediated and Gendered………...……………………………………………..44

iii 3.2 Quantitative and Qualitative Aspects of Coverage……………………...…….49

3.3 Media, Gender, and Executive Office…………………………………………53

3.4 Gendered Frames……. ……………………………………………………….55

3.4.1 Appearance…………....……………………………………….…55

3.4.2 First Name………………………………………………………..58

3.4.3 Family………………...………………………………….……….60

3.4.4 First Woman………………………………………………………62

3.4.5 Emotions………………………………………………………….63

3.5 Practical Implications………….………………………………………………67

Chapter 4: The Case Study of Dora Bakoyannis…………….…………………………

4.1 Women in Greek Politics……………………………………………………...70

4.2 Legal Frameworks, Structural Parameters and Public Attitudes……………...73

4.3 The Political Context………...………………………………………………..78

4.4 Methodology…….…………………………………………………………….88

4.5 Gender Stereotypes in Perceptions of Bakoyannis…………………………….92

4.6 Quantitative and Qualitative Coverage of Bakoyannis………………………...98

4.7 Gendered Frames……..……………………………………………………...109

4.7.1 Appearance………………………………………….………….109

4.7.2 First Name……………………...………………………………112

4.7.3 Family…………………………………………………….…….117

4.7.4 First Woman……………………………………………………118

4.7 Emotions………………………………………………….…….119

Chapter 5: Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….

iv 5.1 Summary of Findings…………………………………………………….…..121

5.2 Limitations and Directions for Future Research………………………….….123

5.3 “Women Are Never Front-Runners”……………………..………………….124

Appendices…………………………………………………………………………..….126

Bibliography…..……………………………………………………………………..…140

v List of Figures

Figure 1: Voting Intentions for a Woman Prefect, Mayor, President, Prime Minister…..77

Figure 2: Attitudes About Women Leaders of Major Parties……………………………78

Figure 3: Perceptions of Candidates’ Personality Traits…………………………………94

Figure 4: Perceptions of Candidates’ Leadership Qualities……………………………...95

Figure 5: Breakdown of Bakoyannis’ Issue Coverage……...………………………….104

Figure 6: Breakdown of Samaras’ Issue Coverage……………………………………..104

vi List of Tables

Table 1: Regional Averages of Women in National Legislatures……………………….15

Table 2: Women in the Greek National Legislature……………………………………..71

Table 3: Method for Obtaining the Bias of a News Story……………………………….91

Table 4: Quantity of Coverage (Paragraph)………..…………………………………...103

Table 5: Quantity of Coverage (Headlines/Bylines)……………………...…………….103

Table 6: Type of Coverage (Paragraph)………………………………….……………..103

Table 7: Tone of Coverage (Article)……………………………...…………………….108

Table 8: Tone of Coverage (Paragraph)………………………………………………...108

Table 9: Tone of Coverage (Headline/Byline)………………………...………………..109

Table 10: References to Candidates’ Appearances………………...…………………...109

Table 11: Forms of Address (Article)……….…..……………………………………...115

Table 12: Forms of Address (Headline/Byline)…………..…………………………….115

Table 13: Forms of Address – Control for Candidate Self-Representation……….…....116

Table 14: References to Candidates’ Families….………………………………….…...116

vii Thesis Statement

Women comprise half the world’s population yet they remain dramatically under- represented in political institutions around the world at every level and type of office. In recent years, women leaders like Michelle Bachelet, Julia Gillard, Park Geun-hye and

Angela Merkel shattered their countries’ highest glass ceilings to attain elite leadership positions; however, executive office remains extremely masculinized and male remains the default sex of office-holding. Based on a content analysis of an original data set of

811 articles consisting of 4,786 paragraphs, which draws from the analytical framework

Rainbow Murray suggests in Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling: A Global Comparison of Women’s Campaigns for Executive Office, this research examines the ways gender stereotypes and gendered media coverage shaped the contours of Dora’s Bakoyannis campaign for the leadership of one of the major political parties in Greece. Overall, while not implicitly acknowledged in campaign discourse and media coverage, gender operated in the background, influencing the strategies and representation of the candidate, and though not the single driver, it was a contributory factor to her discredit and eventual defeat.

Key words: Dora Bakoyannis; Greece; Nea Dimokratia; women in politics; women political candidates; women executives; gender stereotypes; media gender bias.

1 Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 The Inevitable Winner

On October 4th, 2009,1 Dora Bakoyannis embarked on a campaign to win the leadership of Nea Dimokratia (ND) and become the first woman at the helm of one of the two major political parties in Greece.2 Earlier that day, the leader of the party and prime minister,

Kostas Karamanlis, announced his intention to step down from the leadership of ND following a defeat of historic magnitude by George Papandreou’s Panhellenic Socialist

Movement (PASOK). Bakoyannis started the campaign not just as the strong front-runner but basically as the inevitable winner -- having previously served as Minister of Foreign

Affairs in Karamanlis’ cabinets, she had established her presence as the undisputed number two in the party hierarchy and possessed the experience, organizational muscle, resources, and support in the parliamentary caucus that guaranteed a smooth victory in the upcoming party convention. Furthermore, a number of the institutional arrangements and conditions that facilitate women’s ascent to executive office were present3 -- a party

1 The official announcement of Bakoyannis’ candidacy took place on October 12th; however, for reasons of consistency since each candidate entered the race on different dates, the start of the campaign will be considered the night of the general election, when Karamanlis’ resignation created a leadership vacuum and triggered the process of his succession. 2From the 1974 transition to democracy in the aftermath of the collapse of the military junta until 2012, ND and PASOK had been the main poles of a two-party system that held power in rotation: 1974-1981 (ND), 1981-1989 (PASOK), 1989-1993 (ND), 1993-2004 (PASOK), 2004-2009 (ND), 2009-2012 (PASOK). In the general elections of May and June 2012, following the bankruptcy of the Greek economy, the bailout agreements between PASOK’s government and the troika of lenders (EU, ECB, IMF), accompanied by harsh austerity measures, PASOK’s electoral support collapsed and came third in the polls while SYRIZA finished second and emerged as the new main pole of the Left. 3 Farida Jalalzai. 2013. Shattered, Cracked, or Firmly Intact? : Women and the Executive Glass Ceiling Worldwide. New York: Oxford University Press.

2 parliamentary system, an environment of crisis and political transition, as well as familial connections.4

Early polls confirmed the status of the overwhelming favorite -- Bakoyannis dominated the field and leaded her three male opponents by significant margins. At the outset of the campaign, according to a poll conducted for the newspaper Kathimerini, Bakoyannis polled at 28 percent; Antonis Samaras at 15 percent; Dimitris Avramopoulos at 13 percent; and Panagiotis Psomiadis at 6 percent.5 Another poll for the TV station Alpha confirmed the state of the horse-race with Bakoyannis maintaining a commanding 10- point lead over her closest opponent.6 Momentum was also on her side – 75 percent of the public replied that the race was hers to lose. 7 An anecdote that highlights the inevitability narrative occurred during an official visit in Greece of the Turkish Minister for European Union and Chief Negotiator, Egemen Bağış, who met with Prime Minister

Papandreou but also with Bakoyannis, whom he called “the next leader of the Greek opposition.”8

In the course of 57 days Bakoyannis passed from being the unbeatable candidate to trailing Samaras, her main opponent, and eventually on the night of November 29th she

4 Bakoyannis is the daughter of former leader of Nea Dimokratia, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, who served as prime minister from 1990 to 1993. 5 Public Issue. October 2009. Public Attitudes Toward the Party Leader Election in ND [in Greek]. Graph 17. 6 Marc. October 21, 2009. Survey on the Party Leader Succession in ND: Bakoyannis Leads the Race for the Leadership of ND according to MARC poll [in Greek]. http://www.marc.gr/ 7 Public Issue. October 2009. Public Attitudes Toward the Party Leader Election in ND [in Greek]. Graph 17. 8 Antoniou, Dora. 2009. “Turkey Proposes Comprehensive Talks” [in Greek] Kathimerini, November 6. Accessed January 28, 2014. http://www.kathimerini.gr/375302/article/epikairothta/politikh/dialogo-ef-olhs- ths-ylhs-proteinei-h-toyrkia

3 conceded defeat after losing the ballot by a decisive 10 percent margin. The obituaries of

Bakoyannis’ campaign in the Greek press covered many of the reasons that contributed to her electoral misfortunes: the presumptuousness of the front-runner status; 9 her identification with Karamanlis’ unpopular government who was voted out in the last general election;10 her failure to grasp the electoral zeitgeist as her message was too moderate while the political pendulum in her party was swinging aggressively to the right; 11 incorrect positioning of her candidacy as she was appealing to “a virtual audience;”12 and inability to recalibrate her strategy when the process changed from a closed party convention to open primaries, therefore projecting the impression of

“backroom dealing.”13

Undoubtedly, Dora Bakoyannis, whose political career had spanned over three decades, carried her own political baggage to the 2009 leadership contest. It is worth noting that

Bakoyannis did not gain elected office as an offspring and standard-bearer of a political dynasty – instead, the first election she contested was in 1989, in the aftermath of the assassination of her husband, Pavlos Bakoyannis, by the terrorist organization 17

November. She decided to run to fill her late husband’s seat in Evritania and the

9Athanasopoulos, Aggelos. 2009. “Introspection Decided the Winner” [in Greek] To Vima, December 4. Accessed January 28, 2014. http://www.tovima.gr/opinions/article/?aid=303064&wordsinarticle=Μπακογιάννη 10 Chiotis, Vassilis. 2009. “Why Dora Lost” [in Greek] To Vima, December 1. Accessed January 28, 2014.. http://www.tovima.gr/opinions/article/?aid=302420&wordsinarticle=Μπακογιάννη 11 Pretenteris, Yannis. 2009. “The Hardcore Right” [in Greek] To Vima, December 1. Accessed January 28, 2014. http://www.tovima.gr/opinions/article/?aid=302416&wordsinarticle=Μπακογιάννη 12 Kioussis, Yorgos. 2009. “How Antonis Brought the Spring to ND.” [in Greek] Eleftherotypia, December 1, Accessed January 28, 2014.. http://www.enet.gr/?i=news.el.article&id=107360 13 Terzis, Yorgos. 2009. “From Favorite to Big Loser” [in Greek] Kathimerini, December 1. Accessed January 28, 2014. http://www.kathimerini.gr/377844/article/epikairothta/politikh/apo-favori-h-megalh- htthmenh

4 underlying rationale of her candidacy was to continue their joint political project as was reported in a 1989 New York Times piece:

“she and her husband had drawn up a development plan for the region, which

measured by its roads, health care and electricity, she said, is poorer than any

other part of Greece. The plan had been sent to get financing from the European

Community. ‘Brussels approved the plan the day before his death, but he never

heard the news,’ she said, ‘So I have a lot of reasons to continue in Evritania.’”14

Not only was her first electoral challenge successful, but Bakoyannis embarked on a political journey, clearing barriers that no other woman before her in Greek politics ever did. She first served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and then as Minister of

Culture until 1993. In the ensuing 11 years of PASOK’s political hegemony Bakoyannis established her political presence and methodically ascended her party’s hierarchy. In

2002, she ran for the Mayoralty of Athens and won by a landslide becoming the first woman mayor in the city’s history. Two years later, Nea Dimokratia returned to power and in 2006 Bakoyannis joined Karamanlis’ cabinet as Minister for Foreign Affairs, again, the first woman to ever assume that portfolio. She stayed in place, surviving two cabinet reshuffles. During her tenure, Forbes included her in its List of the World’s Most

Powerful Women for three consecutive years (2006-2008).15 At the time of the campaign,

14 Simons, Marlise. 1989. “Woman in Mourning Proudly Picks Up a Banner.” The New York Times, November 3. Accessed February 2, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/03/world/athens-journal- woman-in-mourning-proudly-picks-up-a-banner.html 15 Forbes. 2008. “The 100 Most Powerful Women: #78 Dora Bakoyannis.” August 27. Accessed February 2, 2014. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/11/biz_powerwomen08_Dora-Bakoyannis_QR52.html; Forbes. 2007. “The 100 Most Powerful Women: #67 Dora Bakoyannis.” August 30. Accessed February 2, 2014 http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/11/biz-07women_Dora-Bakoyannis_QR52.html; Forbes. 2006. “The 100 Most Powerful Women: #66 Dora Bakoyannis. August 31. Accessed February 2, 2014 http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/11/06women_Dora-Bakoyannis_QR52.html

5 her name was circulated as one of the potential candidates to assume the position of the

European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief, 16 though eventually United Kingdom’s

Catherine Ashton got the political appointment.

1.2 This Woman

An analysis of the 2009 campaign based solely on the political environment and the personal trajectory and characteristics of the individual candidate paints an incomplete picture of what actually happened on the campaign trail. What remained elusive in the post-mortems as well as in campaign discourse is that Bakoyannis was not only a woman but the first woman with a credible chance of becoming the leader of a major political party and therefore to be positioned to contest the premiership in the next general election and get a chance to shatter the country’s highest glass ceiling. In trying to achieve that,

Dora Bakoyannis had to overcome gendered barriers and negotiate normative masculinist approaches to political leadership.

Women in Greece outnumber men as a demographic category; however, the political sphere far from reflects the gender make-up of the population. Following the 2009 general election women MPs comprised 17.3 percent of Vouli ton Ellinon, the national

Parliament. Though women serving as political leaders were not a novelty in Greek political life, the women who had previously served as party leaders belonged to far-Left parties - Aleka Papariga of the Greek Communist Party (KKE) and Maria Damanaki of

16 Fragkos, Spiros. 2009. “Europe Is Ready to Change Page After the Referendum in Ireland.” [in Greek]. To Vima, October 4. Accessed March 10, 2014 http://www.tovima.gr/world/article/?aid=291843&wordsinarticle=μπακογιάννη

6 Synaspismos17 - and did not have a viable chance to win the popular vote and receive the mandate to form a government. A survey on public attitudes about women in Greek politics conducted by the Center for Research on Equality Issues (KETHI) reveals cultural resistance and lingering vestiges of traditional gender ideology, with almost one in five Greek voters stating that they would not vote for a woman to become prime minister. However, when asked about lower level political positions (mayor, prefect) the number of those stating that they would not vote for a woman candidate almost halved.18

These findings reveal that despite progress and women’s gains in the political sphere, politics and especially the upper echelons of power are viewed through a predominantly masculine lens.

Deeply embedded gender stereotypes still inform voters’ perceptions and evaluations of political candidates and pose challenges to women’s political advancement. According to the gender and politics literature, women are more likely to be associated with “soft” personality traits such as warmth, compassion, and kindness, while men are deemed strong, aggressive and rational leaders. 19 Similarly, based on the gendered traits dichotomy, policy issues are divided into “soft” and “hard” with education, social policy, and environmental issues comprising the former and national security, foreign policy, and the economy the latter category. Since national executive elections are more likely to be dominated by “hard” policy issues, women candidates stereotyped along the lines of both

17 Synaspismos tis Aristeras kai tis Proodou (Coalition of the Left and Progress) was an earlier form of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA). 18 Center for Research on Equality Issues (KETHI). 2006. “Women’s Participation in Decision-Making Centers in Greece.” Athens, Greece. Question 7. 139 19 Huddy, Leonie, and Nayda Terkildsen. 1993a. “Gender Sterotypes and the Perception of Male and Female Candidates.” American Journal of Political Science 37 (1): 119-47.

7 personality characteristics and issues competence face additional barriers to reach high elective office.20

The notion of leadership as a hyper-masculinized domain becomes even more pronounced as we climb the electoral ladder since the position has always been associated with a man. In the following 2006 memo to Hillary Clinton, campaign strategist Mark Penn echoes that gendered narrative and provides his insight on how to run a woman for the highest executive office. Penn advises Clinton to communicate the traits that were attributed to Margaret Thatcher, United Kingdom’s first female PM, and gained her the moniker Iron Lady and at the same time avoid feminine personality traits that he deemed incompatible with high executive power:

Most voters in essence see the presidents as the ‘father’ of the country.

They do not want someone who would be a first mama, especially in this

kind of world. But there is a yearning for a kind of tough single parent -

someone who can combine the toughness they are used to with the

negotiating adeptness they believe a woman would bring to the office.

They are open to the first father being a woman. And the best role model

proves the case. Margaret Thatcher was the longest serving Prime Minister

in British history [...] and the adjectives that were used about her (Iron

20Huddy, Leonie, and Nayda Terkildsen.1993b. “The Consequences of Gender Stereotypes for Women Candidates at Different Levels and Types of Office.” Political Research Quarterly 46 (3): 503-25.

8 Lady) were not of good humor or warmth, they were of smart, tough

leadership.21

Dominant narratives about hegemonic masculinity and political power are reverberated through and reinforced by mass media. Given the mediated nature of today’s political experience media have the potential to make or break political candidacies – media outlets can boost a candidate’s electoral chances by covering her campaign therefore bestowing upon it viability credentials; ignoring her therefore rendering her invisible; or, derailing her political campaign by distorting its messages and paying attention to the inessential. Media routines of covering electoral contests are redolent with imagery borrowed predominantly from the hyper-masculinized domains of sports and war.

Borrowing metaphors from masculine domains to describe political contests simply casts women as outside their proper sphere. One example that illustrates this point comes from the newspaper Kathimerini, where the journalist framed the race in Greek soccer terms.

While the author drew analogies between the male candidates and soccer players and soccer systems of play like 4-3-3, he chose a different approach for the female contender.

He argued that Bakoyannis, “whose relationship to sports is mediated through her husband, was always sitting on the bench” and that way she practiced not to complain and say what she truly thinks, a quality that might have served her well in politics.22 By doing so, the author “others” Bakoyannis casting her as an anomaly and implying that her proper position is not in the race.

21 Green, Joshua. 2008. “Penn’s ‘Launch Strategy’ Ideas, December 21, 2006” The Atlantic, August 11. Accessed February 5, 2014. http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2008/08/penns-launch-strategy- ideas-december-21-2006/37953/ 22 Boukalas, Pantelis. 2009. “Speculations” [in Greek]. Kathimerini, October 11. Accessed February 2, 2014. http://www.kathimerini.gr/716848/opinion/epikairothta/arxeio-monimes-sthles/ypo8eseis

9

Furthermore, rather than engage in substantive policy discussion media routines center on the game aspects of the race (who is leading, who is falling behind at the polls) as the most newsworthy, and that bears consequences for women in politics. In addition, the gender and media canon has documented a number of ways the fourth estate disadvantages women candidates by focusing on electoral distractions such as the candidate’s appearance and familial arrangements, frames that domesticate women and trivialize their campaigns, or employing more insidious ways to undermine their authority, such as referring to them more informally and quoting them less frequently.

The aim of this research is to examine the ways Dora Bakoyannis’ gender shaped the contours of the 2009 leadership contest and influenced the trajectory of her political campaign. The main thesis is not and could not be that Bakoyannis lost the election because she is a woman. A more nuanced hypothesis is being put forward -- at the intersection of gender politics and media routines for election coverage, Dora Bakoyannis found herself trapped in a set of double-binds, electoral Catch-22s that significantly limited her campaign choices. While Bakoyannis has a unique and loaded personal and political history, my aspiration is to demonstrate that the findings of this research extend well beyond this woman, and the singularities of her candidacy and campaign.

Understanding the ways socially constructed ideas about who can hold elected office relegate women to the electoral periphery while keeping the top prize for men only can provide valuable insights and more informed decisions for future campaigns until the day

10 that Greek politics will be a more equitable place and the highest, hardest glass ceiling will be shattered once and for all.

1.3. Research Questions

The following research questions drive the gender analysis of Bakoyannis’ campaign:

RQ1: Did Dora Bakoyannis experience gender stereotyping that reinforced traditional gender norms and cast her in a light that she did not possess what it takes to lead?

Indicator 1: Bakoyannis was stereotyped as possessing feminine personality traits

Indicator 2: Bakoyannis’ perceived issue expertise was limited to stereotypically feminine issues

Indicator 3: Bakoyannis was perceived as more liberal than she was in reality

RQ2: Did media employ biased routines and gendered frames in their coverage of

Dora Bakoyannis’ campaign?

Indicator 1: Bakoyannis received less quantitative coverage than her male counterparts.

Indicator 2: Bakoyannis received less substantive issue coverage than her male opponents.

Indicator 3: Bakoyannis received more negative coverage than her male opponents.

Indicator 4: Bakoyannis received more coverage of her appearance than her male opponents.

Indicator 5: Bakoyannis was addressed more informally than her male counter-parts.

11 Indicator 6: Bakoyannis’ family was mentioned more frequently than her male opponents’.

Indicator 7: Bakoyannis’ coverage touched the historic aspects of her candidacy as the

“first woman” with a viable chance of winning the party leadership.

1.4. Thesis Overview

The thesis is structured in four additional chapters. Chapter 2 examines the existing literature on gender and politics and assesses the ways deeply ingrained gender stereotypes inform public conceptions of leadership. More specifically, it discusses how stereotypes about women’s personality traits, command of policy issues and ideological predispositions inform voters’ evaluation of women candidates running for different levels of political office. Furthermore, an overview of the institutional, structural and cultural arrangements will help us better grasp the particular dynamics of women’s efforts to reach high executive office and shatter the highest political glass ceiling.

Anecdotes from around the world from women’s successful and unsuccessful campaigns illustrate the theoretical findings.

Chapter 3 focuses on media routines for covering the political campaigns of women candidates. The chapter begins by addressing how the nature of news organizations and the process of making the news are significantly gendered and have important implications for the representation of women. Theoretical approaches that examine media effects such as agenda-setting, framing and cultivation theory are discussed, while emphasis is being placed on quantitative and qualitative patterns in media coverage of

12 women candidates. Specific manifestations of overt and more insidious media bias will be presented highlighting the ways they undermine, trivialize, and “other” women in politics.

Chapter 4 presents a narrative analysis of Dora Bakoyannis’ race for the nomination of

Nea Dimokratia. First, the chapter situates Bakoyannis within the Greek context controlling for institutional, structural and cultural factors that govern the Greek gender contract. Second, it places her candidacy within the context of the leadership race, identifying the zeitgeist that served as the backdrop to her campaign. Third, it presents the methodology that was followed in order to capture gender-sensitive indicators of gender bias. Three Greek newspapers, the most influential on the grounds of agenda- setting power and circulation, were analyzed for the entire 57 days of the campaign both at the article level and the paragraph level. 811 articles consisting of 4,787 paragraphs were coded and tested for statistical significance. A narrative analysis of the race borrowing the analytical framework Rainbow Murray proposes in her book Cracking the

Highest Glass Ceiling: A Global Comparison of Women’s Campaigns for Executive

Office follows, incorporating the quantitative and qualitative findings of the research.

Chapter 5 summarizes the thesis, highlights the findings and the limitations of the study, discusses implications for women’s campaigns for executive office in Greece and proposes directions for future research.

13 Chapter 2: Gender and Politics

2.1 Women in Politics

In 1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women with its landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action acknowledged that “women’s empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of society, including participation in the decision-making process and access to power, are fundamental for the achievement of equality, development, and peace,” and placed gender equality front and center in the global consciousness and development mainstream.23 At the dawn of the 21st century the international community re-affirmed its commitment to gender equality with Millennium

Development Goals 3 and 5 and included proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments as one of the indicators of progress.24

However, today, despite significant strides, women remain severely under-represented in the political sphere. Table 1 presents data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union that show at the beginning of 2014 the world average of women in national legislatures standing at

21.8 percent, ranging from a 42.1 percent high in the Nordic countries to a 13.4 percent low in the Pacific region. Rwanda tops the list with 63.8 percent women in the national parliament and countries like Cuba, Sweden, Finland, South Africa, Iceland and Norway occupy the other high spots of the list. Despite wide variation across countries and regions, the absence of women’s equitable participation remains the common

23 United Nations. Fourth World Conference on Women: Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Accessed February 4, 2014 http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform/declar.htm 24 Millennium Project. Goals, Targets, and Indicators. Accessed February 4, 2014 http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/goals/gti.htm

14 denominator and a manifestation of, to borrow Amartya Sen’s words, “outrageously unjust arrangements.”

Table 1: Regional Averages of Women in National Legislatures25

Single House Upper House Both Houses

or lower House or Senate combined

Nordic Countries 42.1% -- --

Americas 25.2% 25.3% 25.2%

Europe – OSCE 25.1% 22.8% 24.6% member countries including Nordic countries

Europe – OSCE 23.5% 22.8% 23.3% member countries excluding Nordic countries

Sub-Saharan Africa 22.9% 19.8% 22.5%

Asia 18.9% 13.9% 18.4%

Arab States 17.8% 7.7% 15.9%

Pacific 13.4% 38.6% 16.2%

This gender imbalance in the political realm raises issues of democratic legitimacy of public institutions that do not represent the make-up of the population and questions about the quality of political representation because “when 50 percent of the population is

25 Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union. Accessed February 5, 2014 http://www.ipu.org/wmn- e/arc/world010114.htm.

15 missing from the public discourse, this is a symptom of a larger problem.” 26

Additionally, visible women in power challenge deeply entrenched ideas and perceptions of what leadership looks like because “a public woman is one of the most crucial weapons we have in the war against stereotype and gender bias because it is a fundamental challenge to the assumptions about gender organization and sex-role assignment.” 27 An example from Australia highlights the importance of assigning a female face to leadership – in the aftermath of the removal from office of the country’s first female head of government, Julia Gillard, “a 4-year-old girl from Canberra, when told that Australia had a new prime minister, said: ‘Really, What’s her name?’28 Another anecdote attesting to the power of symbolism comes from Liberia, where after her rise to the presidency Ellen-Johnson-Sirleaf changed the inscription on the front of the Supreme

Court from “Let justice be done to all men” to “Let justice be done to all.”29

Not only as a theoretic principle but also in practice the multiple positive effects of women’s political representation have been amply demonstrated. Simply put, women do make a difference in terms of favoring policies that benefit women and minority groups in education, health care, and gender issues, and though women in politics by no means comprise a monolithic bloc, even women who do not espouse feminist beliefs are more likely to promote legislation that positively impacts women’s lives than their non-

26 Markham, Susan A. 2012. “The Missing 50 Percent.” Foreign Policy, June 29. Accessed February 10, 2014. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/06/29/the_missing_50_percent 27 Brill, Alida, ed. 1995. A Rising Public Voice: Women in Politics Worldwide. New York: NY: Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 2. 28 Baird, Julia. 2013. “In Australia, Misogyny Lives On.” The New York Times, July 5. Accessed February 10, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/06/opinion/in-australia-misogyny-lives-on.html?_r=0 29 Bauer, Gretchen. 2011. “Sub-Saharan Africa.” In Women in Executive Power: a Global Overview, edited by Gretchen Bauer and Manon Tremblay. New York, NY: Routledge, 101.

16 feminist male counterparts.30 In places like India, women’s political participation affects policy outcomes as it correlates with increased levels of spending in infrastructure and public goods provision.31 Additionally, exposure to women in leadership roles erases gender gaps in educational attainment and has consequential long-terms effects – it positively influences the aspirations of young girls and their parents’ commitment to invest in the human capital endowments of their daughters.32 Women are also more likely to exhibit a more democratic and consensus-oriented leadership style in public office.33 In

Rwanda, women parliamentarians transcended ethnic and partisan lines to form a cross- party caucus that challenged discrimination enshrined in law and promoted a pro-gender equality legislative agenda.34 In the U.S., during last year’s shutdown of the federal government, the 20 women Senators came together in an effort to break the stalemate and were hailed as “the only adults left in Washington.”35

Perkins et al. reveal a positive association between a female head of state and macro- economic performance in more ethnically diverse nations -- “the presence of a female leader is correlated with a 6.9 percent increase in GDP growth in comparison to having a male leader. […] For example, in Liberia, one of the most ethnically diverse and difficult

30 Shames, Shauna L. 2003. Briefing Book for ‘Why Women Matter’ Summit. New York, NY: The White House Project. 24-6. 31Chattopadhyay, Raghabendra and Esther Dulfo. 2004. “Women as Policy Makers: Evidence from a Randomized Policy Experiment in India.” Econometrica, 72 (5): 1409-43. 32 Beaman, Lori, Duflo, Esther, Pande, Rohini, and Petia Topalova. 2012. “Female Leadership Raises Aspirations and Educational Attainment for Girls: A Policy Experiment in India.” Science 335 (6068): 582- 6. 33 Rosenthal, Cindy Simon. 2001. “Gender Styles in State Legislative Committees.” Women & Politics, 21 (2): 21-46. 34 Powley, Elizabeth. 2003. Strengthening Governance: The Role of Women in Rwanda’s Transition. Cambridge, MA: Hunt Alternatives Fund. 35 Newton-Small, Jay. 2013. “Women Are the Only Adults Left in Washington.” TIME, October 16. Accessed February 10, 2014. http://swampland.time.com/2013/10/16/women-are-the-only-adults-left-in- washington/

17 to lead countries […] the predicted GDP growth is 14.55 percent if the leader is female, versus -1.89 percent if the leader is male.”36 Finally, women’s political engagement in transition and post-conflict environments is consequential and positively correlates with conflict resolution and sustained peace as acknowledged in the United Nations Security

Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325).37

2.2 Gender Stereotypes in Politics

At this point, it is important to provide definitions of terms and notions at the center of this study. “Sex” refers to biological differences between men and women, while

“gender” connotes the socially constructed categories “feminine” and “masculine” and it

“involves ideas about the behaviors, roles, and activities that are considered feminine and masculine as well as beliefs about which people (women or men) appropriately occupy these spaces.”38 Stereotypes have been defined as “cognitive structures containing beliefs, knowledge, trait and attribute expectations that an individual holds about members of specific groups.” 39 In their seminal research, Huddy and Terkildsen identified three manifestations of gender stereotyping: gender-linked traits, competency on issues, and gender-beliefs.40

36 Perkins, Susan E., Phillips, Katherine W., and Nicholas A. Pearce. 2013. “Ethnic Diversity, Gender, and National Leaders.” Journal of International Affairs 67 (1): 93. 37Chinkin, Christine. 2003. Peace Agreements as a Means for Promoting Gender Equality and Ensuring Participation of Women – a Framework of Model Provisions” United Nations: Division for the Advancement of Women. http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/peace2003/reports/BPChinkin.PDF 38 Dolan, Kathleen A. 2004. Voting for Women: How the Public Evaluates Women Candidates. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. 7. 39 Higgle, Ellen D.B, Miller, Penny M, Shields, Todd G., and Mitzi M. S. Johnson. 1997 “Gender Stereotypes and Decision Context in the Evaluation of Political Candidates.” Women & Politics 17 (3): 70. 40 Huddy and Terkildsen. 1993a. “Gender Sterotypes and the Perception of Male and Female Candidates.”

18 Stereotypes about gender-linked personality traits emanate from deeply embedded ideas about traditional gender socialization and women’s and men’s proper spheres. According to Falk, women’s confinement in the domestic realm and subsequent association with nurturing roles reflects broader historical processes and social and economic forces:

As industrialization brought men into a public work space and as they became

identified with an occupation, a parallel private sphere was created for women at

home. As one observer put it, “Middle class homes were being built on the

concept of men working in the public world and depending on women’s labour

both conjugal and servant, in the private realm of the home.”41

Research indicates that women as a group are perceived as more compassionate, honest, and emotional, qualities corresponding to the nurturing and caregiving roles of wives and mothers, while, on the other hand, men are viewed as possessing more instrumental traits such as being strong, intelligent and rational.42 Especially in low-information contexts without other information cues and in the case of relative unknown candidate challengers, gender is even more consequential in the perception of personality characteristics.43 The following excerpt describes an experiment of voters’ reaction to campaign ads of male and female candidates:

41 Falk, Erika. 2010. Women for President: Media Bias in Nine Campaigns (2nd ed.). Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. 32. 42 Kahn, Kim Fridkin. 1996. The Political Consequences of Being a Woman: How Stereotypes Influence the Conduct and Consequences of Political Campaigns. New York: Columbia University Press: New York. 6; Sapiro, Virginia 1981-1982. “If US Senator Baker Were a Woman: An Experimental Study of Candidate Images.” Political Psychology 3 (1/2): 61-83. 43Alexander, Deborah, and Kristi Andersen. 1993. “Gender as a Factor in the Attribution of Leadership Traits.” Political Research Quarterly 46 (3): 527-45.

19 Before the ads even started, when the candidate simply appeared on the screen

without speaking a word – in fact, before he or she had any real traits at all other

than gender – the dialers made decisions about leadership potential. Women

stayed even or were dialed down, but men were dialed up from the first

second…men had the instant advantage, based on their maleness.44

Experiments have also shown that women continue to be associated with nurturing qualities even if they attempt to project masculine personality traits.

Moreover, women’s historical exclusion from the public sphere of politics fosters negative assessments of women political aspirants since they are seen as lacking critical political experience. 45 Sanbomatsu contends that “baseline gender preferences” and

“gender schemata” underpin the evaluation process of women in politics.46 Finally, with regard to geographic and cultural limitations in the generalizability of these assertions, comparative research in 30 countries has revealed “pancultural similarities” in gender stereotyping.47

Gender-linked personality traits are strong predictors of issue competence, driving assumptions that feminine personality traits are associated with “soft” policy issues and masculine with “hard” policy issues, therefore posing another impediment to women

44 Wilson, Marie C. 2007. Closing the Leadership Gap: How Women Can and Must Help Run the World. New York, NY: Penguin Books. 19. 45Carroll, Susan J. 2009. “Reflections on Gender and Hillary Clinton’s Presidential Campaign: The Good, the Bad, and the Misogynic.” Politics and Gender 5 (1): 6. 46 Sanbomatsu, Kira. 2002 “Gender Stereotypes and Vote Choice.” American Journal of Political Science 46 (1): 20-34. 47 Williams, John E. and Deborah L. Best. 1982. Measuring Sex Stereotypes: A Thirty-Nation Study. Beverly Hills, California: Sage Publications.

20 candidates .48 Simply put, women are deemed better to handle social issues like health care and education while men are more competent to command issues like the economy, national security, foreign affairs and crime. 49 The ability to establish expertise in masculine policy areas is critical to women’s advancement in elite politics.50 Feminine issues are more likely to be prevalent in the context of local office and historically low- level office has been an entry point for women in politics since perceptions of women’s stereotypical strengths match the demands of job. Real-world cabinet-level appointments further perpetuate stereotypical conceptions of gender and issue expertise since women are more likely to be assigned portfolios like social affairs, health, and education.51 In assessing issue stereotypes, it is important to factor cultural variables into the analysis.

For example, while agriculture in the West is considered a masculine policy area, the same does not apply in the sub-Saharan African context, where women comprise the majority of the agricultural labor force.52

On the grounds of ideological beliefs, women are perceived to be more left-wing than they are in reality. 53 Rainbow Murray interprets the interaction of ideological stereotyping with traits and issues as particularly disadvantageous to left-wing women

48 Huddy and Terkildsen. 1993a. “Gender Sterotypes and the Perception of Male and Female Candidates.” 49 A Paradox in Public Attitudes. Men or Women: Who’s the Better Leader? 2008.Washington, DC: Pew Research Center. http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2008/08/25/men-or-women-whos-the-better-leader/ 50 Dolan, Kathleen. 2010. “The Impact of Gender Stereotyped Evaluations on Support for Women Candidates.” Political Behavior 32 (1):69-88. 51 Bauer, Gretchen, and Manon Tremblay, eds. 2011. Women in Executive Power: a Global Overview. New York, NY: Routledge. 52 Adams, Melinda. 2010. “Ma Ellen: Liberia’s Iron Lady.” In Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling: A Global Comparison of Women’s Campaigns for Executive Office, edited by Rainbow Murray. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. 159-176. 53 Koch, Jeffrey W. 2000. “Do Citizens Apply Gender Stereotypes to Infer Candidates’ Ideological Orientations?” The Journal of Politics 62 (2): 414-29.

21 who face a particular “Mommy Problem.”54 To illustrate that point it is worth considering

Chris Matthews’, host of MSNBC’s Hardball, description of the Democratic Party as

“Mommy Party” and the Republican Party as “Daddy Party” – “the Daddy Party is good for guns and foreign policy and tough on crime. They are the ones who lock the doors at night. […] The Democrats believe in Social Security, health, education – all the things that nurture a country into becoming a great country – the Mommy Party.”55 Cognitive scientist George Lakoff advanced this concept by proposing two metaphors of the nation as a family organized around conservative or progressive beliefs: on the one hand, there is a family model dominated by an authoritarian paternal figure who “protects the family in the dangerous world, supports the family in the difficult world, and teaches his children right from wrong.”56 On the other end, there is a nurturing, gender-neutral family worldview based on compassion and empathy. The implication of this is that the ideological affiliation of progressive women, or “mommies from mommy parties” heightens traits and issue stereotyping and makes the negotiation of leadership’s masculine demands more challenging.

There is no clear-cut answer as to whether a causal relationship exists between women’s under-representation in politics and overt gender bias on voters’ part since as opposed to experimental designs that can isolate the effects of a single variable, in real-world settings gender intersects with partisan affiliations, structural and institutional parameters (such as

54 Murray, Rainbow, ed. 2010. Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling: A Global Comparison of Women’s Campaigns for Executive Office.” Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. 19-20. 55 Matthews, Cristopher. 1991 “Mommy’s Love and Daddy’s Protection.” The Baltimore Sun, May 14. Accessed February 12, 2014. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-05-14/news/1991134061_1_liberal- democrats-gulf-war-mommy 56 Lakoff, George. 2004. Don’t think of an elephant: Know your values and frame the debate. White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing. 7.

22 the power of the incumbency),57 the nature of the electoral system, contextual factors

(such as the salience of the issues), and the degree of “cognitive complexity of the decision task.”58

Rather than focusing on election day as the political entry point for women, Lawless and

Fox focus on the candidate-emergence phase and suggest that women’s decision not to run for office is the major driver of their under-representation. 59 Qualified potential women candidates do not take the plunge as a result of vestiges of traditional gender socialization and the effects of the “gendered psyche” that create women’s self-doubt about their ability to successfully compete in the electoral arena. The Citizen Political

Ambition Study reveals that even women similarly situated with men, in occupations preceding political candidacies, like law and business, are less likely to mount a candidacy.60

2.3 Gender and Executive Office

Since Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka became the first woman prime minister in the world in 1960 and Argentina’s Isabel Peron the first female head of state in 1974 a wave

57 Darcy, Robert, Welch, Susan, and Janet Clark. 1994. Women, Elections and Representation. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. 58King, Amy, and Andrew Leigh. 2010. “Bias at the Ballot Box? Testing Whether Candidates’ Gender Affects Their Vote.” Social Science Quarterly (91) 2: 324-43; Anderson, Mary R., Lewis, Cristopher J., and Charlie L. Baird. 2011. “Punishment or Reward? An Experiment on the Effects of Sex and Gender Issues on Candidate Choice,” Journal of Women, Politics & Policy (32) 2: 136-57; Herrick, Rebekah, Mendez, Jeanette, Thomas, Sue, and Amanda Wilkerson. 2012. “Gender and Perceptions of Candidate Competency” Journal of Women, Politics & Policy (33) 2: 126-50; Higgle, Ellen D.B, Miller, Penny M, Shields, Todd G., and Mitzi M. S. Johnson. 1997 “Gender Stereotypes and Decision Context in the Evaluation of Political Candidates.” Women & Politics (17) 3: 69-88. 59 Fox, Richard L., and Jennifer L. Lawless. 2011. “Gendered Perceptions and Political Candidacies: A Central Barrier to Women’s Equality in Electoral Politics.” American Journal of Political Science (55) 1: 59-73. Lawless, Jennifer. 2010. It Still Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don’t Run for Office. New York: Cambridge University Press. 60 Elder, Laura. 2004. “Why Women Don’t Run” Women & Politics (26) 2: 27-56

23 of women trailblazers followed in their footsteps: Golda Meir became the prime minister of Israel in 1969; Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom in 1979; India’s Indira

Gandhi in 1980; Gro Harlem Bruntland reached Norway’s premiership in 1981; Corazon

Aquino became president of the Philippines in 1986; Violeta Chamorro of Nicaragua in

1990; Benazir Bhutto became prime minister of Pakistan in 1993, and Turkey’s Tansu

Ciller in 1993.

In recent years a new wave of women executives rose to the top in countries with different levels of political and economic development – only in 2013, Chile’s Michelle

Bachelet won a second presidential term, South Korea’s Park Geun-hye ascended to the presidency, Germany’s Angela Merkel won a third parliamentary election, Norway’s

Erna Solberg, Senegal’s Aminata Toure, Slovenia’s Alenka Bratusek rose to the premierships of their countries. However, in the grand scheme of things women account for a small percentage of the world’s leaders with few women serving as prime ministers and even fewer as presidents and male remains the default sex of high power.

Gallup’s initial wording of the question on attitudes about a woman president, “would you vote for a woman for President if she were qualified in every other respect,” which embraces the idea that being a woman is a presidential disqualifier, might seem a thing of the past but executive office remains the most masculinized of all offices since it has always been historically associated with a man. Based on the gender-incongruency hypothesis, “discrimination will occur when the role and the person do not ‘fit.’”61

61 Smith, Jessi L., Paul, David, and Rachel Paul. 2007. “No Place for a Woman: Evidence for Gender Bias in Evaluations of Presidential Candidates.” Basic and Applied Social Psychology 29 (3): 226.

24 Duerst-Lahti discusses the ingrained gendered ethos of executive power arguing, “If men have played an overwhelming role in an institution’s creation and evolution, it is only

‘natural’ that masculine preferences become embedded in its ideal nature.”62 Whether stated explicitly as a preference for men in leadership positions 63 or in negative evaluations for women presidential aspirants,64 the relevance of gender in the political process is undeniable. As previously discussed masculine characteristics and male policy areas are prized more than feminine ones in the political milieu. As we climb the electoral ladder, that preference becomes even more pronounced rendering national elective office a male bastion, while relegating feminine traits and issues to the electoral periphery of local office.65 Therefore, the negotiation of masculinity and male policy areas becomes a political imperative for women vying for the top political job.

In 1984, when Geraldine Ferraro became Walter Mondale’s running mate and the first woman vice-presidential candidate on a major party ticket, she faced questions about her toughness (“Are you tough enough?”)66 and whether her gender would render her a national security liability (“Do you think that in any way the Soviets might be tempted to try to take advantage of you simply because you are a woman?”).67 More than two decades later, in 2008, when Hillary Clinton mounted a bid for the top spot of the

62 Duerst-Lahti, Georgia. 2014. “Presidential Elections: Gendered Space and the Case of 2012.” In Gender and Elections: Shaping the Future of American Politics. Third edition, edited by Carroll, Susan J., and Richard L. Fox New York: Cambridge University Press. 63 Newport, Frank, and Joy Wilke. 2013 “Americans Still Prefer a Male Boss.” Gallup, November 11. Accessed February 15, 2014 http://www.gallup.com/poll/165791/americans-prefer-male-boss.aspx 64 Smith, Jessi L., Paul, David, and Rachel Paul. 2007. “No Place for a Woman: Evidence for Gender Bias in Evaluations of Presidential Candidates.” 65 Huddy, Leonie, and Nayda Terkildsen.1993b. “The Consequences of Gender Stereotypes for Women Candidates at Different Levels and Types of Office.” 66 Jamieson, Kathleen Hall. 1995. Beyond the Double-Bind: Women and Leadership. New York: Oxford University Press. 129. 67 Ibid., 107.

25 Democratic Party’s ticket and came closer than any other woman in U.S. history to win the nomination of a major party, she achieved so but directly embracing masculinity. At the core of the political messaging of her supporters were phrases evoking masculinist imagery such as “she has testicular fortitude” and she makes “Rocky Balboa look like a pansy.”68 In one of the most memorable campaign ads of the 2008 election, known as “3

AM”, Clinton casts herself as the only strong leader able to handle a national security crisis:

It’s 3:00 AM and your children are safe and asleep but there’s a phone in the

White House and it’s ringing. Something is happening in the world. Your vote

will decide who answers that call, whether it’s someone who knows the world’s

leaders, knows the military -- someone tested and ready to lead in a dangerous

world. It’s 3 AM and your children are safe and asleep. Who do you want

answering the phone?69

Nonetheless, performing masculinity on the campaign trail is not a silver bullet. In casting herself as possessing stereotypically masculine characteristics a woman candidate risks being penalized for transgressing norms that dictate “appropriate” gender behavior.

In other words, she risks being judged negatively by displays of “agentic” and masculine qualities because in that case she lacks the “communal” feminine traits that are expected from a woman.70 Put simply, as many feminists have noted a tough woman is more likely

68 Memoli, Mike. 2008. “Hillary’s ‘testicular fortitude’” NBC News, April 30. Accessed February 19, 2014 http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2008/04/30/4437744-hillarys-testicular-fortitude 69 Alexovich, Ariel. 2008. “Clinton’s National Security Ad” The New York Times, February 29. Accessed February 19, 2014 http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/clintons-national-security- ad/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 70 Eagly, Alice H., and Linda L. Carli. 2003. “The female leadership advantage: An evaluation of the evidence.” The Leadership Quarterly 14 (6): 807-34.

26 to be considered a bitch rather than a strong leader.71 Clinton’s attempts at performing masculinity backfired as she was caught on the double-bind that fed negative narratives throughout her campaign: at a Republican political gathering in South Carolina, a supporter of John McCain asked him about Clinton, “How do we beat the bitch?” to which McCain replied “that’s an excellent question.”72 During a Democratic debate, her personal likeability was called into question by the moderator, to which Obama offered the patronizing and condescending comment, “you’re likeable enough, Hillary.”73 In an ironic twist, Clinton’s strategy of focusing on masculine traits and adopting hard-line positions on male policy issues might have alleviated some of the concerns of her gender critics, but put her at odds with activists of the women’s movement because her political posturing reinforced rather than challenged entrenched gender norms, and some women activists went to such great lengths as to call her a “ventriloquist for the patriarchy with a skirt and vagina.”74

In 2007, Australia’s first female PM, Julia Gillard, came to power after challenging the sitting prime minister, Kevid Rudd, and winning the leadership ballot of her caucus colleagues by a landslide, therefore forcing him to step down. Her ascension to power, while displaying a tough, pugnacious, take-no-prisoners style fed a public narrative about

71 Valenti, Jessica. 2014. “The Female ‘Confidence Gap’ Is a Sham.” The Guardian, April 23. Accessed May 5, 2014. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/23/female-confidence-gap-katty-kay- claire-shipman 72 Condren, Debra. 2007 “Beat the Bitch? Straight Talk on the B-Bomb.” Huffington Post, November 14. Accessed March 1, 2014 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/debra-condren/beat-the-bitch-straight- t_b_72698.html 73 Cohen, Richard. 2008. “’You’re Likeable Enough’ Costs Obama” ‘Likeable Enough’ Moment with Hillary” RealClearPolitics, January 10. Accessed March 1, 2014. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/01/youre_likable_enough_costs_oba.html 74 Chaudry, Lakshmi. 2007 “What Women See When They See Hillary: The Feminist Debate over Candidate Clinton.” The Nation, July 2. 11 – 4.

27 a power-hungry political operator, and throughout her tenure she was vilified and subjected to extreme sexism and misogyny from ordinary citizens and the official oppositional alike.75 Gillard chose to address the double-bind head-on by giving her famous “misogyny speech,” which went viral and resonated strongly around the world:

And then of course, I was offended too by the sexism and misogyny of the leader

of the Opposition catcalling across the table at me as I sit here as Prime Minister,

‘If the Prime Minister wants to, politically speaking, make an honest woman of

herself…’ something that would never have been said to any man sitting in this

chair. I was offended when the Leader of the Opposition went outside in the front

of Parliament and stood next to a sign that said “Ditch the witch.” I was offended

when the leader of the Opposition stood next to a sign that described me as a

man’s bitch.76

Chile’s Michele Bachelet marks a departure from the masculine-as-the-default-norm canon since she “ran as a woman” embracing explicitly her femininity and framing it as an advantage. During her 2005 campaign for the presidency, Bachelet, a physician who had served as Health and Defense Minister in the governments of Ricardo Lagos, and whose family was persecuted and tortured by the military junta of Pinochet, was accused of lacking gravitas for executive office (“No da el ancho”). Instead of doubling-down on

75 Summers, Anne. 2013. The Misogyny Factor. Sydney, N.S.W.: New South Publishing. 76 “Transcript of Julia Gillard’s speech.” 2012. The Sydney Morning Herald, October 10. Accessed March 4, 2014. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/transcript-of-julia-gillards-speech- 20121010-27c36.html

28 masculinity, Bachelet used her televised spots to address her critics and those who had questioned her qualifications because she is a woman:

Strength knows no gender, and neither does honesty, conviction or ability. I bring

a different kind of leadership, with the perspective of someone who looks at

things from a different angle. Let us change mentality; when all is said and done,

a woman President is simply a head of government who doesn’t wear a tie.77

Bachelet left office with very high approval ratings and prohibited by the Constitution to seek a consecutive second term she was awarded a prestigious appointment at the United

Nations as the first executive director of UN Women. In 2013, Bachelet returned to Chile to seek a second-term on a platform of free public education, decreasing economic inequalities, constitutional reform, gender equality and same-sex marriage. In her second inaugural she declared inequality the number one public enemy, and in sharp rhetorical contrast with her predecessor who employed business-linked lingo to talk about politics, she said that the country is not a list of indicators or statistics and promised to usher Chile into a more inclusive and tolerant future.78

However, the political environment can strongly influence discourses about gender, masculinity and elite leadership, especially in a situation of national security threats. In

77 Thomas, Gwynn, and Melinda Adams. 2010. “Breaking the Final Glass Ceiling: The Influence of Gender in the Elections of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Michelle Bachelet.” Journal of Women, Politics & Policy 31 (2): 123. 78Torres-Leclercq, Belinda. 2014. “Bachelet Promises Tax, Education Reform and 50 Bills in 100 days.” The Santiago Times, March 12. Accessed April 4, 2014 http://santiagotimes.cl/bachelet-promises-tax- education-reform-50-bills-100-days/

29 the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent “War on Terror” the “strong leader” cue strongly correlated to presidential vote choice.79 President George W. Bush engaged in a more pronounced performance of “hegemonic” masculinity based on dominance and aggression that reverberated through the national media and cast hyper-masculinity as the appropriate reaction to the challenges of the nation.80 Post-9/11 levels of willingness to support a woman presidential candidate dropped to the lowest levels in three decades.81

A different corollary of political alpha-male posturing is the creation of an electoral bipolarity in which the opponent must be emasculated in order for dominant masculinity to be performed appropriately. Indeed, in 2004, Bush’s Democratic opponent John Kerry, with combat medals on his resume, was framed as an effete patrician and as a result of an orchestrated smear campaign that came to be known as “swift boating” his military credentials and leadership mettle were irreparably tarnished.82

What becomes evident is that gender always operates in the background even when two men run or two women run against each other, and a process of masculinizing oneself and feminizing the opponent is omnipresent.83 Similarly to Kerry, other Democratic men have been on the receiving end of attacks on their masculinity. In the course of the 1988

79 Hansen, Susan B., and Laura Wills Otero. 2006. “A Women for U.S. President? Gender and Leadership Traits Before and After 9/11.” Journal of Women, Politics & Policy 28 (1): 35-60. 80Coe, Kevin, Domke, David, Bagley, Meredith M., Cunningham, Sheryl, and Nancy Van Leuven. 2007. “Masculinity as Political Strategy: George W. Bush, the ‘War on Terrorism,’ and an Echoing Press.” Journal of Women, Politics & Policy 29 (1): 31-55. 81 Lawless, Jennifer L. 2004 “Women, War, and Winning Elections: Gender Stereotyping in the Post- September 11th Era.” Political Research Quarterly 57 (3): 479-90. 82 Ducat, Stephen J. 2004. The Wimp Factor: Gender Gaps, Holy Wars, and the Anxious Masculinity. Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press. 83 Heldman, Caroline. 2007. “Cultural Barriers to a Female President in the United States.” In Rethinking Madam President: Are We Ready for a Woman in the White House? edited by Lori Cox Han and Caroline Heldman. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner. 22.

30 presidential campaign, the case of Willie Horton was used against Democratic nominee

Mike Dukakis in order to frame him as weak on crime and law and order. Furthermore,

Han and Heldman argue that Dukakis “became a national laughingstock […] for wearing an oversized military helmet while driving a tank. The image projected a candidate who literally and figuratively could not fill the hat. Opponents used this picture to feminize

Dukakis, making reference to his lack of ‘manliness,’ thereby casting him as unfit to be commander in chief.”84 In the course of his re-election campaign, Barack Obama was accused by his opponents of weak leadership on the global stage, immortalized in the phrase “leading from behind.”85 During the course of the 2007 presidential campaign in

France, Michele Alliot-Marie (MAM), then-Defense minister that was considered a potential candidate for the UMP nomination, which eventually Nicolas Sarkozy won, resorted to a barrage of gender-based attacks against the nominee of the Parti Socialiste,

Segolene Royal:

Meanwhile, one of MAM’s many attacks on Royal declared that “she has not

detailed how much her promises will cost because she is incapable of calculating

the cost…” MAM then continued by criticizing Royal’s “lack of perspective” on

“France’s place in the world,” citing Royal’s stance on aircraft carriers as an

example of her “inadequecies.” 86

84 Ibid. 85 Sink, Justin, and Julian Pecquet. 2012. “Romney Charges Obama with Leading from Behind in Foreign Policy Speech.” The Hill, October 8. Accessed March 9, 2014 http://thehill.com/video/campaign/260779- romney-charges-obama-with-leading-from-behind-in-foreign-policy-speech 86 Murray, Rainbow. 2010. “Madonna and Four Children: Segolene Royal” In Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling: A Global Comparison of Women’s Campaigns for Executive Office.” edited by Rainbow Murray. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. 56.

31 A different way in which embracing masculinity as a political strategy can backfire for women candidates is by opening up space for their male opponents to veer into feminine territory. A reversal in the gender strategy was documented in the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, where Barack Obama embraced a feminine approach, in terms of style, message and policy priorities, in a political environment seeking profound change from

Bush’s status quo. Elaine Lafferty, former editor of Ms. Magazine, wrote a memo to

Hillary Clinton documenting how Obama’s gender reversal strategy was undermining her campaign:

We believe Oprah and her organization has been closely advising Obama in terms

of message, vocabulary, and delivery. Bottom line: you are running against a

WOMAN candidate. Obama’s language and presentation is not just poetry. He

employs the vocabulary of femaleness, the vocabulary of emotion that fills

women’s magazines and daytime television. He speaks endlessly of that which ‘is

deep inside me of me.’ (How many men speak that way?)…Everyone knows

Hillary is a policy ace. They DON’T know she shows up in hospitals for friends.87

With regard to the salience of male policy areas in executive politics, Kenski and Falk examined voters’ presidential gender preference when selecting a masculine or a feminine issue as the most important problem facing the country -- respondents identifying a traditional masculine issue (taxes) as the most pressing issue were more likely to say that a male president would do a better job handling it while voters

87 Traister, Rebecca. 2010. Big Girls Don’t Cry: The Election That Changed Everything for American Women. New York: Free Press. 74.

32 considering (health care) were more likely to say that a female president would do a better job.88 A national election fought over the economy, national security and foreign policy places women at a comparative disadvantage. During the 2013 presidential election in Honduras, Xiomara Castro faced resistance concerning the ability of a woman to lead the country with the highest homicide rate in the world. 89 In the Mexican presidential election of 2012, Josefina Vazquez Mota, candidate of the ruling PAN party, finished a distant third in the polls failing to establish her credentials in one of the more consequential issues, the Drug War with the ongoing armed conflict between government forces and the drug cartels. At the same time, her major opponent and eventual winner,

Enrique Pena Nieto went to great lengths to bolster his macho credentials by refusing even to answer a bread-and-butter question during a debate because “he is not a house- wife.”90

However, the necessity of commanding “hard” policy areas can be negotiated by gaining portfolio experience or issue expertise in these areas. Even if women cabinet members continue at the aggregate level to receive appointments at “soft” policy areas, successful women leaders or aspirants have established their gravitas in these policy domains. In

Germany, Angela Merkel has demonstrated her authority on economic issues not only at the country level but as the de facto leader of Europe in weathering the ongoing EU

88Kinski, Kate, and Erika Falk. 2004. “Of What Is That Glass Ceiling Made? A Study of Attitudes About Women and the Oval Office.” Women & Politics 26 (2): 57-80. 89 Tisdall, Simon. 2013. “Honduras election: Could a Woman Lead the Country with the Highest Rate of Femicides? The Guardian, November 22. Accessed March 13, 2014 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/22/honduras-election-could-woman-lead-high-femicides 90 Hernandez, Daniel. 2011. “Mexico Female Candidate Criticizes Pena Nieto on Housewife Remark.” Los Angeles Times, December 15. Accessed March 12, 2014 http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2011/12/josefina-vazquez-mota-pena-nieto-comments-women- mexico.html

33 financial crisis. One of Merkel’s speculated successors, Ursula von der Leyen, is currently serving as Defense Minister.91 Spain’s Carme Chacon, who has been referred to as a potential first woman prime minister of the country, was also the first woman to become Defense Minister in 2008.92 In the U.S., with the 2016 presidential campaign underway, though no candidate has officially declared candidacy, the two women widely speculated to contest the Democratic nomination have both proven experience in “hard” policy areas: Ahead of a potential second bid for the White House, Hillary Clinton served a four-year tenure as Secretary of State, winding down two wars and weathering international events such as the Arab Spring and the military intervention in Libya in

2011, as well as the successful U.S. mission to kill Osama bin Laden. Massachusetts

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a former bankruptcy law professor and special advisor for the

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, began her Senate tenure with an assignment on the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and used that platform to establish herself as the champion for the middle-class and a new economic populism.

The ideological stereotyping of women as more liberal as they are in reality was discussed earlier and more specifically Rainbow Murray’s identification of a “Mommy

Problem” that might be disadvantageous to left-wing women, who are simultaneously stereotyped on the basis of gender and ideology. Indeed, conservative women have proven more successful in attaining elite positions at G8 counties – Canada’s Kim

91 Paterson, Tony. 2013. “Ursula von der Leyen: Is This the Next Woman to Become Chancellor of Germany?” The Independent, December 13. Accessed March 12, 2014 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ursula-von-der-leyen-is-this-the-next-woman-to- become-chancellor-of-germany-9006358.html 92 Zuber, Helene. 2010. “Charming Carme: Spain’s Defense Minister Makes Her Mark in a Macho World.” Spiegel Online, April 15. Accessed March 12, 2014 http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/charming- carme-spain-s-defense-minister-makes-her-mark-in-a-macho-world-a-688785.html

34 Campbell, United Kingdom’s Margaret Thatcher and Germany’s Angela Merkel belong to right-of-center parties, lending credence to the hypothesis that perhaps, a non-feminist conservative woman is better situated to pull a “Nixon to China” strategy and not engage in the promotion of a feminist agenda. However, that finding seems not to apply to women politicians in the Latin America and the Caribbean region -- Dilma Rousseff in

Brazil, Cristina Fernandez in Argentina, Michele Bachelet in Chile, Laura Chinchilla in

Costa Rica, Kamla Persad-Bissessar in Trinidad and Tobago and Portia Simpson-Miller in Jamaica all come from left-of-center parties.

2.4 Pathways to Executive Power

2.4.1 Shattered ceilings

Jalalzai contends that once a country has a woman executive it is more likely to have another in the future, as a visible woman in power challenges norms and informal institutions and can serve as a role model for other women.93 In her last press conference after her removal from office, Julia Gillard said that gender “does not explain everything about my time in the prime ministership, nor does it explain nothing” and added, “what I am absolutely confident of is that it will be easier for the next woman and for the woman after that, and I’m proud of that.”94 During her concession speech, Hillary Clinton made the case that though she did not manage to shatter the highest glass ceiling her bid opened up political space for other women aspirants: “from now on, it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories – unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to

93 Jalazai, Farida. 2004. “Women Political Leaders” Women & Politics (26) 3-4: 92 94 Baird. Julia. 2013. “In Australia, Misogyny Lives On.”

35 be our nominee, unremarkable to think that a woman can be the president of the United

States.”95

The countries that have seen more than one woman rise to elite leadership include the following: Sri Lanka’s Sirimavo Bandaranaike (PM, 1960) and Chandrika Kumaratunga

(PM, 1994); India’s Indira Gandhi (PM, 1966) and Pratibha Patil (President, 2007);

Norway’s Gro Harlem Brundtland (PM, 1986) and Erna Solberg (PM, 2013); New

Zealand’s Jenny Shipley (PM, 1997) and Helen Clark (PM, 1999); Senegal’s Mame

Madior Boye (PM, 2001) and Aminata Toure (PM, 2013); Central African Republic’s

Elisabeth Domitien (PM, 1975) and Catherine Samba-Panza (President, 2014);

Bangladesh’s Khaleda Zia (PM, 1991) and Sheikh Hasina (PM, 1996); Iceland’s Vigdis

Finnbogadottir (President, 1980) and Johanna Sigurdardottir (PM, 2009); Philippine’s

Corazon Aquino (President, 1986) and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (President, 2001); and

Ireland’s Mary Robinson (President, 1990) and Mary McAleese (President, 1997).

2.4.2 Institutional Factors

Institutional arrangements and distribution of power play a significant role when it comes to access to executive office and women leaders are more likely to win high power in a parliamentary system:

Presidential powers within a presidential system appear very strong. These elites

often assume the role of commander in chief and make high-profile appointments.

95 Clinton, Hillary. 2008. “Yes, We Can.” The Guardian, June 8. Accessed March 14, 2014 http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/jun/07/hillaryclinton.uselections20081

36 Moreover, as the lone executive a president does not have to share office with

others. Lastly, presidents enjoy predetermined tenures. Prime ministers by

comparison come to power through appointment, lack fixed terms and remain

vulnerable to a vote of no confidence or an unfavorable party ballot. Moreover,

prime ministerial governance depends heavily on parliamentary collaboration

rather than on independent leadership.96

Furthermore, gender stereotypes can be somewhat diminished in Westminster systems because the mandate to form a government is given to the leader of the party who has won the national ballot. A party-driven campaign as opposed to an individual-focused presidential contest can mitigate the media’s gendered discourses that we will examine in the next chapter. However, it is worth noting that parliamentary elections are increasingly

“presidentialized” focusing more on party leaders and less on party platforms.97 That being said, the majority of women in executive office have been elected in parliamentary systems, where they climbed the party ranks by winning the support of colleagues and their party’s caucus. Notable examples include: Margaret Thatcher in the United

Kingdom, Angela Merkel in Germany, Gro Harlem Brundtland and Erna Solberg in

Norway, Helle Thorning-Schmidt in Denmark, Laimdota Straujuma in Latvia, Alenka

Bratusek in Slovenia, Iveta Radicova in Slovakia, Yulia Tymoshenko in Ukraine, Julia

Gillard in Australia, and Helen Clark in New Zealand.

96 Farida Jalalzai. 2013. Shattered, Cracked, or Firmly Intact? : Women and the Executive Glass Ceiling Worldwide. 2 97 Sykes, Patricia Lee. 2009. “Incomplete Empowerment: Female Cabinet Ministers in Anglo-American Systems.” In Dispersed Democratic Leadership: Origins, Dynamics and Implications edited by John Kane, Haig Patapan, and Paul t’ Hart. New York: Oxford University Press.

37 2.4.3 Familial connections

Familial ties offer women another route to executive power. Women leaders have exploited the visibility, networks, and political capitals of male relatives in order to access the upper echelons of power. The trend is more pronounced in two world regions,

Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia, but there are different cultural dynamics at play in each region underpinning it. In Latin America, other than Laura Chinchilla,

Dilma Rousseff and Michelle Bachelet, all other women executives followed in the footsteps of powerful men in their families. “Marianismo” offers a useful analytical tool in explaining the phenomenon – according to that gendered conception, “women derive their identities through their male relatives – fathers, brothers, husbands and sons and achieve their highest fulfillment as wives and mothers.” 98 The words of Violeta

Chamorro, who ascended to the presidency of Nicaragua after the assassination of her husband Pedro, illustrate a narrative according to which women would serve to promote or consolidate the vision of a male relative and not to realize their own independent ambitions: “Why did I run? Because I was driven to fulfill my late husband Pedro’s dreams that Nicaragua become a truly democratic republic.”99 Argentina’s first female president Isabel Peron was married to president Juan Domingo Peron and the second woman president Cristina Fernandez was married to President Nestor Kirchner; Guyana’s

Janet Jagan was the wife of president Cheddi Jagan; and Panama’s Mireya Moscoso was married to president Arnulfo Arias.

98 Saint-Germain, Michelle. 1993. “Women in Power in Nicaragua: Myth and Reality.” In Women as National Leaders, edited by Michael Genovese. Newbury Park, California: Sage Publications. 77 99 Jalalzai, Farida. Shattered, Cracked, or Firmly Intact? : Women and the Executive Glass Ceiling Worldwide. 98.

38 Asian women leaders have almost exclusively rose to power as standard-bearers of political dynasties, having their identities tied to the political movements and historical projects of their fathers and husbands. Fleschenberg argues that their “elite status trumped their gender status.”100 India’s Indira Gandhi was the daughter of the towering figure of the Indian Independence movement, Jawarharlal Nehru; Benazir Bhutto’s father

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto founded the Pakistan’s People’s Party; Indonesia’s Megawati

Sukarnoputri was the daughter of Sukarno, the leader of the independence movement against the Netherlands; Sheikh Hasina is the daughter of the founding father of the

Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The two most recent women leaders in the region,

South Korea’s Park Geun-hye and Thailand’s Yingluck Shinawatra also fit the pattern:

Geun-hye’s father, Park Chung-hee, was a former president of the country; and

Shinawatra’s brother Thanksin was a former prime minister and her Pheu Thai Party is considered an incarnation of her brother’s dissolved Thai Rak Thai Party.

2.4.4 Environment of Crisis

An environment of crisis can create political space for women because of the failure of the male-dominated status quo. In popular culture, the Danish TV show Borgen, which chronicles the rise and governance of Denmark’s first fictional woman prime minister presents such a scenario. The pilot of the show, called “Decency in the Middle” finds center-left Birgitte Nyborg leading the Moderate party in an electoral environment polarized between right-wing and left-wing political blocs. According to the plot, the incumbent prime minister and leader of the right-wing bloc is embattled in a scandal of

100 Fleschenberg, Andrea. 2011. “South and Southeast Asia.” In Women in Executive Power: a Global Overview, edited by Gretchen Bauer and Manon Tremblay. New York, NY: Routledge, 23-44.

39 power abuse and the leader of the left-wing coalition self-implodes in a confrontational

TV performance, exhibiting an extreme display of macho aggressiveness. That opens up a window for Nyborg during the last debate prior to the general election to go off-script, decry the prevailing political culture and promise a different way of doing politics:

All of us here have become ever so professional. We know every question,

because we check them off with the journalists. […] I am shocking my spin

doctor who is backstage right now by diverting from my speech. I upset him by

not wearing the right clothes, too. The trouble is I’ve got a bit too fat for them.

[…] I believe we must own up to our mistakes and admit it when there’s

something we don’t know. I became a politician because I once held strong views

on how this world should be. […] If we’re to create a new Denmark together we

have to invent a new way of communicating and of doing politics. Word like

socialism, liberalism and solidarity might just be words describing the world of

yesterday and not the world of tomorrow. A modern world is manifold and our

democracy should be, as well. A vote for the Moderates tomorrow is a vote for a

new Denmark.101

In the scripted TV show, Nyborg’s display of honesty and femininity is rewarded by voters as it marks a break from politics as usual but in real-world situations women have also embodied change when windows of opportunity have opened. In a context much more harrowing than Nordic TV, following the 1994 genocide in Rwanda which left almost one million people killed and more than 250,000 women raped, women stepped

101 Accessed March 20, 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur5KMw4Qxk8

40 into the political spotlight, ran for and won office and contributed to the reconciliation and reconstruction of the country.102 In Liberia, in 2005, following 14 years of civil war,

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became the first democratically elected woman head of state in

Africa, riding a wave of support from women who had worked actively to put an end to the war and endemic corruption in government and used the slogan, “all the men have failed … let’s try a woman.”103 In January 2014, in the Central African Republic, after months of sectarian killings between the government and rebel forces, Catherine Samba-

Panza was elected as the country’s interim president in the hopes that “she is the woman who can bring peace.”104

In Iceland, the 2008 collapse of the economy opened the way for Johanna Sigurdardottir to become the country’s first female and the world’s first openly lesbian PM. During her tenure as Minister of Social Affairs, she established herself champion of the little guy gaining the moniker “Saint Johanna.”105 Icelanders were far less focused on her sexual orientation than her plans to fix an economy in free fall since the nation’s banking system and currency collapsed.106 In countries as diverse as Burma (Aung San Suu Kyi), the

102 Acquaro, Kimberlee, and Peter Landesman. 2003 “Out of Madness, A Matriarchy” Mother Jones, January/February. Accessed March 20, 2014 http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2003/01/out-madness- matriarchy; Izabilla, Jeanne. “The Role of Women in Reconstruction: Experience of Rwanda.” Accessed March 20, 2014 http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SHS/pdf/Role-Women- Rwanda.pdf 103 “All the men have failed…let’s try a woman.” 2006. Today, January 16. Accessed March 20, 2014 http://www.today.com/id/10876100/ns/today/t/all-men-have-failed-lets-try-woman/#.U3kX8SiTyKx 104 Ngoupana, Paul-Marin, and Adrian Croft. 2014. “Central African Republic Names New Leader, EU to Send Troops.” Reuters, January 20. Accessed March 20, 2014 http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/20/us-centralafrican-idUSBREA0J0VT20140120 105 Mundy, Dean E. 2013 “Framing Saint Johanna: Media Coverage of Iceland’s First Female (and the World’s First Openly Gay) Prime Minister, “ Journal of Interdisciplinary Feminist Thought 7 (1): Art. 5. 106 Durkin, Erin. 2009. “Iceland Names Openly Gay Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir – a World’s First.” Daily News, February 1. Accessed March 20, 2014. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/iceland-names-openly-gay-prime-minister-johanna- sigurdardottir-world-article-1.388859

41 Phillipines (Corazon Aquino) and Nicaragua (Violeta Chamorro) women were at the vanguard of political movements for peace and democratization and become the visible embodiments of change.

2.5 Practical Implications

Given the relevance of gender in the political process and more specifically in elite politics, every campaign of a woman aspirant needs to have a gender strategy in place.

The performance of masculinity and command of “hard” policy areas are a sine qua non for women executives but at the same time by doing so they become vulnerable to criticism for violating gender norms by not being stereotypically feminine enough.

While, with the exception of Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, a display of femininity on the campaign trail can imperil electoral outcomes, focusing on “soft” policy areas and establishing feminist bona fides early on her political career might be an inoculation strategy. New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who is currently serving her second term in the United States Senate, presents an interesting case since she has expressed interest in running for the highest office “someday.”107 In the meantime, she has made tackling sexual assault in the military one of her signature issues and she is empowering other women to run for office through her Political Action Committee “Off the Sidelines.”108

Should she decide to veer into more masculine terrain later in her career before mounting a presidential bid, she can blend a newfound more masculine persona and issues with her

107 Newton-Small, Jay. 2014. “Interview: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Running for President, Sexual Assault in the Military and College Campuses and Why Women Should Rule.” TIME, March 11. Accessed March 20, 2014. http://time.com/20512/time-newsmaker-interview-sen-kirsten-gillibrand-on-running-for- president-sexual-assault-in-the-military-and-college-campuses-and-why-women-should-rule/ 108 Ibid.

42 prior feminist credentials, as a part of a multi-layered gender performance on the campaign trail.

A gender strategy should also read carefully contextual cues, as we have already discussed how the political environment can swing the gender equilibrium in opposite directions. A national security crisis might increase demand for hegemonic masculinity while political corruption scandals or post-conflict settings might improve the electoral purchase of nurturing feminine characteristics.

Finally, as a closing note to a chapter about gender as a political variable in executive politics, it is important to acknowledge considerations about intersectionality in the vein of third-wave feminism. Though gender remains an undeniable locus of oppression, very often it does intersect with class, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation to create a system of multiple deprivations. Iceland’s Sigurdardottir won high office as an openly lesbian woman; however, she represents an exception rather the norm. More research and public discussion about the interplay of minority identities in politics need to occur in order to call attention to different manifestations of patriarchy in political power structures that for the time being render the idea of an Asian American woman contesting the U.S.

Presidency, or a Black British woman moving to 10 Downing Street, wishful thinking.

43 Chapter 3: Gender and Media

3.1 Mediated and Gendered

This chapter focuses on mediated political discourses and considers the consequences of media coverage routines for women in politics since the majority of people do not experience politics directly but rely on the media to receive political information. The question of whether media is a gendered institution is being approached by examining who owns the media, who makes the news, who reports on them, and the ways media content reinforces or challenges the current gender order. The following examples of questions directed to and statements made about women in politics set the tone for the discussion about how political women are being framed in the media: “Are you a flake?”109 “Have you read 50 shades of grey?” 110 “When she comes on television I involuntarily cross my legs,”111 “She looked like everyone’s first wife standing outside a probate court,”112 and the outrageous “the girl whom every man dreamt of sleeping with once.”113

109 Stein, Sam. 2011. “Chris Wallace Asks Michele Bachmann: ‘Are You A Flake’” Huffington Post, June 26. Accessed March 20, 2014 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/26/michele-bachmann-chris- wallace_n_884686.html 110 McDevitt, Caitlin. 2012.“‘Fifty Shades of Gray’ Question Asked at Debate” Politico, October 18. Accessed March 20, 2014 http://www.politico.com/blogs/click/2012/10/fifty-shades-of-grey-question- asked-at-debate-138916.html 111 Harris, Lynn. 2008. “When She Comes on TV, I Involuntarily Cross My Legs.” Salon, May 28. Accessed March 20, 2014 http://www.salon.com/2008/05/28/sexism_sells/ 112Seelye, Katharine Q., and Julie Bosman. 2008. “Media Charged With Sexism in Clinton Coverage.” The New York Times, June 13. Accessed March 20, 2014 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/us/politics/13women.html?pagewanted=print&_r=0 113 Hinojosa, Magda Belen. 2001. “Women Political Candidates and the News Media: The Case of Irene Saez.” Paper Prepared for Delivery at the 2001 Meeting of the Latin American Studies Association. Washington, D.C., September 6-8. 9.

44 The importance of how mass media treat women in politics and cover their campaigns cannot be understated because of their centrality in identifying issues and protagonists;

Ross contends, “the media, and television, in particular, is increasingly the real public space in which politics occurs and through which citizens comprehend the political process.”114 The mediated nature of the political experience remains relevant despite the transition from modern political communications, dominated by national newspapers and network TV news, to a post-modern environment marked by the advent of Web 2.0 and social media like Facebook and Twitter; the fragmentation of the audience; more symmetric communication flows; as well as the blurring of lines between news consumption and production.115

One of the most salient approaches to the role of mass media in shaping public opinion is the agenda-setting theory. McCombs and Shaw posit that rather than telling people what to think, media influences the issues people are thinking about. They found that voters’ identification of the most important electoral issues strongly correlated with the issues being reported in the media. 116 Accordingly, the omission of gender issues and the invisibility of women as political actors bear important consequences for their political viability.

114Ross, Karen. 2002. Women, Politics, Media: Uneasy Relations in Comparative Perspective. Cresskill, N.J.: Hampton Press. 64. 115 Brants, Kees, and Katrin Voltmer. 2011. “Introduction: Mediatization and De-centralization of Political Communication.” In Political Communication in Postmodern Democracy: Challenging the Primacy of Politics edited by Kees Brants and Katrin Voltmer. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 1-18. 116 McCombs, Maxwell E., and Donald L. Shaw. 1972. “The Agenda-Setting Function of Mass Media.” The Public Opinion Quarterly 36 (2): 176-87.

45 While agenda-setting considers who is covered and what issues are being identified as salient, framing theory deals with how issues and actors are being covered and provides further insight into the ramifications of this process for the perception of social reality.

Lakoff defines frames as cognitive structures that contain imagery, ideas and values, influencing not only the ways we see the world but act on it, and it’s a process so unconscious and embedded that “when you hear a word, its frame (or collection of frames) is activated in your brain.”117 Frames are culture- and context-specific and Norris argues that they promote selective interpretations of reality:

News frames bundle key concepts, stock phrases, and stereotyped images to

reinforce certain common ways of interpreting developments. The essence of

framing is selection to prioritize some facts, events, or developments over others,

thereby promoting a particular interpretation.118

Given that men are the gatekeepers of media organizations and society’s institutions, they possess the power; control platforms and resources to promote their particular definitions; and “encourage a commitment to share a particular interpretation of and ways of seeing the world which are entirely partial and preserve the male-ordered status quo.”119

Cultivation theory comprises another important framework in analyzing the effects of mass media. This approach lays out how rather than being a direct cause leading to

117 Lakoff, George. 2004. Don’t think of an elephant: Know your values and frame the debate. xv. 118 Norris, Pippa. 1997. “News of the World.” In Politics and the Press: The News Media and their Influences edited by Pippa Norris. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers. 275. 119Ross, Karen. 2010. Gendered Media: Women, Men, and Identity Politics. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 93.

46 behavioral outcomes, media are a socializing agent that offer cues about the world and can provoke gradual, long-term, cumulative effects. For example, the representation of violence in media texts sends symbolic messages about law and order and reinforces status quo arrangements.120 Similarly, the presence and positive portrayal of powerful women might challenge the “othering” of woman in power and make them appear normative:

Cultivation theory suggests that the more the media cover women leaders (both in

fictional accounts and in the news), the more comfortable the public will be with

the idea of a woman president and the more likely they would be to see women

leaders as a natural part of their social and political world. The important point

here is that the more women leaders are covered, the more women would be

likely to see themselves as politicians.121

Media’s selection bias, framing processes, and their ability to construct reality, gives rise to the concept of “symbolic annihilation” first proposed by Gerbner and further developed by Tuchman. The erasure by omission of women’s history and achievements from the public sphere and their representation in gender-stereotyped ways (emphasis on appearance and familial arrangements) perpetuates their subordinate status in the public and private spheres and reinforces dominant gender ideologies. Put simply, media deny women (as well as minority populations, such as the LGBTQ community) the symbolic materials and resources to question the male, heteronormative hegemony and take action

120 Gerbner, George and Larry Gross. 1976. “Living with Television: The Violence Profile.” Journal of Communication 26 (2): 1972-99. 121 Falk, Erika. 2010. Women for President: Media Bias in Nine Campaigns (2nd ed.). 27-8.

47 to usher into more equitable social arrangements. For example, in The New York Times’ obituaries page where the achievements of prominent people in politics, business, science, and art are being celebrated only one in ten post-mortems are written about women, therefore erasing their achievements in the public sphere and conveying the impression that “the contributions of men do matter more.”122

The masculine ethos of media institutions is clearly reflected in sex-disaggregated data with regard to who owns the media, who makes the news and who reports on them.

According to the Women’s Media Center report on “The Status of Women in the U.S.

Media in 2014” men dominate the media landscape with women severely underrepresented across the board: In the top 10 news organizations, there was only one woman CEO and women accounted for 15.3 percent of board members; In the 25 largest newspapers only one woman was the publisher and four the editors-in-chief; in the newsrooms, women comprised only one-third of the staff and as contributors accounted for a mere 36.1 percent of the bylines and on-camera appearances; and in opinion pages of the three most prestigious newspapers women were outnumbered four to one.

Furthermore, women journalists were more likely to report in stereotypically perceived feminine areas such as lifestyle, health, and entertainment rather than politics, crime and justice, business and economic issues.123

122 Hess, Amanda. 2014. “The New York Times Obituary Page Has a Grave Gender Imbalance.” Slate, May 9. Accessed May 17, 2014 http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/05/09/gender_imbalance_in_obituaries_the_new_york_times_ obituary_page_favors_men.html 123 Women’s Media Center. The Status of Women in the US Media. 17.

48 This imbalance raises the questions: “does it matter?” and “do women make a difference?” First, the skewed sex ratios raise again issues of legitimacy of media institutions, since they are so unrepresentative of society. Also, women journalists do bring a different set of experiences, different perspectives and another lens of looking at things – their presence and inputs can change newsroom culture on multiple levels: “story decisions, editorial policy, assignments, even hiring.”124 More consequentially, women journalists move gender-sensitive indicators towards parity: For example, on page one of

The New York Times men are quoted 3.4 times more frequently than women, but that figure almost halved when women reported the story.125 With regard to covering women in politics, there is a gender solidarity effect because “women in the media identify with the frustrations, the barriers, and the breakthroughs of women in politics because they have had similar experiences in their own newsrooms.” 126 Furthermore, women journalists are less likely to frame women in gender-stereotyped ways that trivialize them and as a result hinder their political prospects.127

3.2. Quantitative and Qualitative Aspects of Coverage

It is important to note that the majority of research on women politicians and the media has been conducted within the United States context and focuses on senatorial and gubernatorial elections. Kahn’s seminal research on the topic during the 1980s discovers significant differences in both the quantity and the quality of newspaper coverage women

124Mills, Kay, 1997. “What Difference Do Women Journalists Make?” In Women, Media, and Politics, edited by Pippa Norris. New York: Oxford University Press. 46 125 Women’s Media Center. 21-23. 126 Mills, Kay, 1997. “What Difference Do Women Journalists Make?” 51. 127 Falk, Erika. 2010. Women for President: Media Bias in Nine Campaigns (2nd ed.); Uscinski, Joseph E., and Lilly J. Goren. 2011. “What’s in a Name? Coverage of Senator Hillary Clinton during the 2008 Democratic Primary.” Political Research Quarterly 64 (4): 884-96.

49 received. More specifically, women received less quantitative coverage, measured in paragraphs devoted to them, and more consequentially less substantive issue discussion and more negative horse-race coverage. 128 All work to the detriment of women politicians in the following ways: media attentiveness measured in quantitative coverage correlates with increased visibility and name recognition for a candidate,129 therefore lack thereof decreases their chances of victory at the polls. With regard to the lack of issue coverage, it reinforces perceptions of existing gender stereotypes since women do not have the opportunity to prove that they do have issue positions, especially in the “hard” policy areas that are traditionally associated with men and mitigate the effect of gender stereotypes. Furthermore, the focus on the horse-race accompanied by negative assessments of women candidates’ viability poses an additional impediment to their electoral advancement.

Kahn also discovered a “distortion effect,” an incongruity between the candidate’s self- representation in her campaign literature and its media representation. While women spend more time talking about the issues, and more specifically “hard” policy domains, they still receive less issue coverage and continue to be associated with policy areas corresponding to stereotypical perceptions of women’s strengths:

“When we compare the amount of issue discussion in the candidate’s own

campaign communications with the amount of issue coverage in the news, we

128 Kahn, Kim Fridkin. 1994. “The Distorted Mirror: Press Coverage of Women Candidates for Statewide Office.” Journal of Politics 56 (1): 154-73. 129 Goldenberg, Edie N., and Michael W. Traugott. 1987. “Mass Media Effects in Recognizing and Rating Candidates in U.S. Senate Elections.” In Campaigns in the News: Mass Media and Congressional Elections, edited by Jan Vermeer. New York: Greenwood Press

50 find that gender differences in issue coverage is not a reflection of the candidate’s

own campaign messages.”130

However, Jalalzai replicated the methodology of Kahn to examine the newspaper coverage of women candidates in the 90s and 00s and found progress in certain indicators and diminished gender stereotyping. More specifically, Jalalzai documents how both the quantity of coverage and the quality of coverage have not only improved but reached gender balance with remaining differences more likely to be explained by the status of the candidate in the race (incumbent, challenger, or running in an open-seat) rather than gender.131 Similarly, Bystrom et al. document dramatic improvements in gender-neutral coverage.132

As we have discussed in the previous chapter, the nature of the political system has implications for the electoral fortunes for women in politics with parliamentary systems being more accessible than presidential. While political competition and electoral coverage in the U.S. is very much candidate-centered it is important to examine how women in party-driven Westminster systems have fared in terms of media coverage.

Comparative research in Canada and Australia paints a complex picture. On the one hand, men and women candidates received equal amounts of coverage; however, there were significant differences in issue coverage. Men candidates were more likely to be

130 Kahn, Kim Fridkin. 1994. “The Distorted Mirror: Press Coverage of Women Candidates for Statewide Office.” 166. 131 Jalalzai, Farida. 2006. Women Candidates and the Media: 1992-2000 Elections. Politics & Policy 34 (3): 606-33. 132 Bystrom, Dianne G., Banwart, Marcy C., Kaid, Lynda Lee, and Terry A. Robertson. 2004. Gender and Candidate Communication: VideoStyle, Webstyle, Newstyle. London: Routledge.

51 associated with “hard” policy areas that are more valued by voters in executive elections, while women candidates received more “soft” issues coverage, policy areas that are more salient in local contexts.133

In Romania, women candidates were covered more frequently in tabloid papers rather than broadsheets but the reverse trend held true for men candidates. However, women received more horse-race coverage than issue discussion but more issue coverage than the men politicians in the research sample. When the issue coverage they received focused on

“hard” policy areas they were evaluated negatively, fostering perceptions that women are incompetent and unqualified to handle these policy domains.134

In Latin American and the Caribbean, women candidates faced challenges in being visible in the media. Data from Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Costa

Rica show that women vying for legislative office received significantly less coverage than their male counterparts in print media, on television, and on the radio. Issue-wise there was a similar pattern across countries with small variations – in Bolivia, both men and women were associated with a combination of “hard” (the economy) and “soft”

(social policy) areas, but men received an edge on the issue of security and internal order; in the Dominican Republic, women were also covered in relation to social policy positions but men were mostly associated with economic issues; in Chile, men’s economic position also received higher coverage, while women’s positions on education

133 Kittilson, Miki Caul, and Kim Fridkin. 2008. “Gender, Candidate Portrayals and Election Campaigns: A Comparative Perspective. Politics & Gender 4 (3): 371-92. 134 Dan, Viorela, and Aurora Iorgoveanu. 2013. “Still on the Beaten Path: How Gender Impacted the Coverage of Male and Female Romanian Candidates for European Office.” The International Journal of Press/Politics 18 (2): 208-33.

52 and health generated more attention, but both sexes received parity in coverage in the domain of security and internal order, a departure from the regional trend.135

3.3 Media, Gender, and Executive Office

Executive office campaigns comprise one of the sticky areas in women politicians’ representation in the media, where progress toward gender equal coverage has been minimal. Falk analyzed the media coverage of nine women who ran for president from the late 19th to early 21st century -- Victoria Woodhull (ran in 1872), Belva Lockwood

(1884), Margaret Chase Smith (1964), Shirley Chisholm (1972), Patricia Schroeder

(1987), Lenora Fullani (1988), Elizabeth Dole (2000), Carol Moseley Brown (2004) and

Hillary Rodham Clinton (2008) and found a remarkable pattern: when compared with male competitors with similar standing in the polls, the women candidates received substantially lower coverage than their male counterparts.136

The case of Elizabeth Dole, who ran for the Republican nomination in 1999, highlights the ways women presidential candidates have faced challenges in getting gender-equal media treatment. Heldman et al. examined the newspaper coverage of her campaign from

March 1999, when she announced the formation of an exploratory committee, until she dropped out of the race before the Iowa caucuses, seven months later, and found differential treatment of the candidate. Despite being consistently second in public opinion polls, trailing only George W. Bush but well-ahead of the third competitor, John

McCain, Dole received significantly less coverage than McCain – McCain was

135 Llanos, Beatriz. 2011. “Unseeing Eyes: Media Coverage and Gender in Latin American Election.” United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. 44-51. 136 Falk, Erika. 2010. Women for President: Media Bias in Nine Campaigns (2nd ed.). 100.

53 mentioned in 33 percent of the articles while Dole only in 19.7 percent.137 The type of coverage that she received was also different -- while the media focus for Bush and

McCain was on the issues, Dole received more horse-race coverage focusing on polls and strategy and less on issues, and the tone was negative describing her difficulties raising funds.138 All hindered her efforts and might have contributed to her eventual defeat.

The case of Angela Merkel in Germany is worth examining since she also ran for executive office but in a different political system and media environment. Overall,

Merkel received evenhanded coverage in terms of visibility. In 2005, when she ran as a challenger to an incumbent chancellor there was no significant difference in terms of issue coverage but she received more negative evaluations than her competitor, Schroder, who was more frequently described as being “likeable”, “a winner” “media competent”

“a strong leader” and “energetic.”139 A comparative gender analysis of the 2005 and 2009 campaigns found that in 2009, incumbent Chancellor Merkel received more coverage but there was not significant difference in issue coverage between 2005 and 2009 leading

Williarty to contend that “for the case of Germany, it does not appear that issue coverage presents any kind of bias against a female candidate for executive office.”140 Though it is impossible to draw generalizable conclusions with a n of one, more research is required to test whether women executives across the world faced more gender-neutral coverage

137 Heldman, Caroline, Carroll, Susan J., and Stephanie Olson. 2005. “‘She Brought Only a Skirt’: Print Media Coverage of Elizabeth Dole’s Bid for the Republican Presidential Nomination.” Political Communication 22 (3): 320. 138 Ibid., 322. 139 Semetko, Holli A., and Hajo G. Boomgaarden. 2007 “Reporting Germany’s 2005 Bundestag Election Campaign: Was Gender an Issue?” The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics 12 (4): 154-71. 140 Wiliarty, Sarah Elise. 2010. “How the Iron Curtain Helped Break through the Glass Ceiling: Angela Merkel’s Campaigns in 2005 and 2009. “In Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling: A Global Comparison of Women’s Campaigns for Executive Office.” edited by Rainbow Murray. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. 145.

54 in contrast to their U.S. counterparts who were systematically disadvantaged by biased media routines.

3.4 Gendered Frames

Moving beyond the quantitative aspects of coverage and the association with gender- linked policy domains, into other dimensions of gendered coverage is critical since

Braden argues “news coverage of women politicians is not always blatantly sexist, but subtle discrimination persists.”141 In the following section, five gendered ways of framing women in the media are explored -- addressing them in informal ways; making trivializing references to their physicality; focusing on domestic arrangements that evoke traditional gender ideology; presenting them as political novelties therefore forcing women contenders to reinvent the wheel; and finally casting them as unfit to exercise elite leadership because women are perceived to operate at the mercy of their hormones.

3.4.1 Appearance

Media coverage of women’s appearance is extremely detrimental as it trivializes them and leads voters to perceive them as not serious candidates. A woman candidate who is subjected to that type of coverage pays a price on different levels “in the horserace, her favorability, her likelihood to be seen as possessing positive traits, and how likely voters are to vote for her.”142 Furthermore, media time spent on her physicality and clothing is time that could have been used to discuss more substantive policy issues. Traister makes

141 Braden, Maria. 1996. Women Politicians and the Media. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. 1. 142 Name It, Change It. “An Examination of the Impact of Media Coverage of Women Candidates’ Appearance.” http://wmc.3cdn.net/0d817481d880a7de0a_60m6b9yah.pdf

55 the case that by virtue of their appearance women can stand out and gain much needed attention, noting that a woman candidate gets to be “the pretty flamingo in the sea of navy and gray, the one who drew your eye”143 echoing Norris’ remark about “a splash of color in the photo op.” However, not all coverage is good coverage since it has multiple implications: for women vying for executive post it diminishes their stature and for women aspirants it might discourage them to run out of fear of being subjected to such degrading and dehumanizing treatment.144

Republican vice-presidential candidate in the 2008 election, Sarah Palin was on the receiving end of extensive focus on her appearance. Palin was framed as a “Beauty

Queen” 145 and “America’s Veep Hottie” 146 and the amount of money spent on her clothing for campaign events made the headlines.147 The objectification of Palin reached new lows, as it morphed into the “pornification” of the candidate who had to endure

“(fake) nude pictures of her posted on the Internet, the first to have a pornographic film featuring her likeness, and the first to have a sex doll made in her image.”148 That sexual commodification of Palin matters both for intrinsic feminist reasons but also for

143 Traister, Rebecca. 2010. Big Girls Don’t Cry: The Election That Changed Everything for American Women. 77-8. 144 Murray, Rainbow, ed. 2010. Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling: A Global Comparison of Women’s Campaigns for Executive Office. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. 145 Suddath, Claire. 2008. “A Jock and a Beauty Queen: Getting to Know Sarah.” TIME, August 29. Accessed March 24, 2014 http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1837523_1837531_1837532,00.html 146 Shaw, Michael. 2008. “Reading the Pictures: America’s Veep Hottie.” Huffington Post, August 30. Accessed March 24, 2014 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-shaw/reading-the-pictures- emam_b_122587.html 147 Healy, Patrick, and Michael Luo. 2008. “$150,000 Wardrobe for Palin May Alter Tailor-Made Image.” The New York Times, October 22. Accessed March 24, 2014 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/us/politics/23palin.html?_r=0 148 Heldman, Caroline. 2008. “Piling on Palin, Hating on Hillary.” The Daily Beast, November 30. Accessed March 24, 2014 http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2008/11/30/piling-on-palin-hating-on- hillary.html

56 instrumental since it led to negative evaluations of her competence and decreased voters’ intentions of voting for the ticket.149

Denmark’s first female prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, has been referred throughout her political career as “Gucci Helle” implying that she is a shallow fashionista rather than a tough political operator. While it is impossible to think of journalists framing male politicians in relation to their sartorial choices, such as “Hugo Boss John” or “Ralph Lauren David,” the nickname “Gucci Helle” not only became standard naming routine at home but also made its way on the headlines of international news media reporting on Danish political affairs: “‘Gucci Helle’ hurt politically by Goldman investment affair”150 and “Meet ‘Gucci Helle,’ slated to be Denmark’s first female prime minister.” 151 According to the latter, sexism is being approached as a normative phenomenon and women need to take as “inevitable fact of life” that they will have their appearance scrutinized. Thorning-Schmidt was also scorned by global media for taking a selfie with President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron during Nelson Mandela’s memorial service in South Africa and she was framed as a narcissist and seductress

(“Flirty blonde Danish PM”)152 and “although both Obama and Cameron came in for

149 Heflick, Nathan A., and Jamie L. Goldenberg. 2009. “Objectifying Sarah Palin: Evidence that Objectification Causes Women to Be Perceived as Less Competent and Less Fully Human.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology (45) 3: 598-601. 150 Milne, Richard. 2014. “‘Gucci Helle’ Hurt Politically by Goldman Investment Affair” Financial Times, January 30. Accessed March 26, 2014 http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/58d1addc-89d7-11e3-abc4- 00144feab7de.html#axzz31uxVCCHf 151 Orange, Richard. 2011. “Meet ‘Gucci Helle,’ Slated to Be Denmark’s First Female Prime Minister. Global Post, September 23. Accessed March 26, 2014 http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/110922/Helle-Thorning-Schmidt-gucci- denmark-female-prime-minister 152 Bracchi, Paul. 2013 “Who’s That Girl? ‘Flirty Blonde PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt at Mandela Memorial.” Daily Mail, December 10. Accessed March 26, 2014. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1076986/Whos-girl-Flirty-blonde-Danish-PM-Helle- Thorning-Schmidt.html

57 criticism, it was Thorning-Schmidt who bore the brunt of the coverage”153 as her actions were deemed to compromise the integrity of high political office.

Though it seems impossible to deflect the media attention from their appearance, women politicians can be somehow pro-active and minimize the damage by avoiding exposure that activates sexist frames. For instance, in 2008 Hillary Clinton declined to appear in

Vogue out of fear of looking “too feminine and inviting more scrutiny on her appearance.” 154 On the other hand, when Kirsten Gillibrand appeared in the same magazine, she was described as “a petite woman with pale-blue eyes and perfectly coiffed blonde hair” and that she has remained “attractive to her husband of nine years, who is two years younger than she is.”155

3.4.2 First Name

Referring to women candidates by using their first name rather than their full name or their title is an insidious way of eroding their authority and diminishing their gravitas.

The use of the first name may project warmth and familiarity, stereotypically feminine traits, but as we have already explored executive office stands out in its hyper- masculinity, therefore reaffirming their “compassionate” nature as women more likely hurts than helps. Heldman argues that “language of this sort is not consciously

153 Anthony, Andrew. 2013. “Mandela Funeral Selfie Adds to Image Problem for Denmark’s Prime Minister.” The Guardian, December 14. Accessed March 26, 2014 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/14/helle-thorning-schmidt-selfie-mandela-denmark 154 2008. “Anna Wintour Takes Hillary Clinton to Task.” Huffington Post, March 28. Accessed March 26, 2014 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/18/anna-wintour-takes-hillar_n_82132.html 155 Van Meter, Jonathan. 2010. “In Hillary’s Footsteps: Kirsten Gillibrand.” Vogue, October 19. http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/in-hillarys-footsteps-kirsten-gillibrand/#1

58 disrespectful, perhaps, but the gender difference is not random and has the ‘real world’ consequence of delegitimizing knowledge, experience, and ultimately, leadership.”156

Falk’s longitudinal analysis of media coverage of women presidential candidates in the

U.S. found that women were five times more likely to be referred to by their first name than their male counterparts.157 Across the world, women running for executive office faced similar journalistic patterns as evidenced in the cases of Irene Saez in Venezula,

Segolene Royal in France, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Nigeria, and Cristina Fernandez de

Kirchner in Argentina.158

A question to consider is whether branding choices of the candidate might influence the outcome since some women have used their first names in campaign literature; therefore, the press choices might merely reflect their strategy. In order to factor that into the analysis, Uscinski and Goren examined how media name male candidates who have also branded themselves with their first name only and found that even “when campaigns market a male candidate’s first name, the media does not reference the candidate that way.”159 Hence, the rejection of the hypothesis that campaign choices account for the ways the name of the candidate appears in the media, in conjunction with the fact that men journalists drive the trend of informally referencing women candidates, provide a

156 Heldman, Caroline. 2007. “Cultural Barriers to a Female President in the United States.” 22. 157 Falk, Erika. 2010. Women for President: Media Bias in Nine Campaigns (2nd ed.). 63. 158 Murray, Rainbow, ed. 2010. Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling: A Global Comparison of Women’s Campaigns for Executive Office. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. 159 Uscinski, Joseph E., and Lilly J. Goren. 2011. “What’s in a Name? Coverage of Senator Hillary Clinton during the 2008 Democratic Primary.” Political Research Quarterly (64) 4: 884-96. 888

59 strong evidence base that addressing women by their first name only is not a coincidence but a gendered practice.160

3.4.3 Family

Women’s dependent identities as wives and mothers, derived by a male figure, have been at the heart of the discourse and criticism of second-wave feminism as exemplified in its opening salvo, Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique. The domesticating frame centered around familial arrangements and duties disadvantages women at multiple levels. First, it “others” women in politics since they are not in their natural private sphere of the household. Second, it evokes a gendered division of labor that sets up a double-bind: women who conform to heteronormative expectations of a nuclear family, face deeply-seated assumptions that they will take up the responsibilities of child-rearing and care work. Should they decide to run for office, they might be accused of failing to fulfill the culturally valued roles of wives and mothers. On the other hand, the absence of traditional marriage arrangements and kids violates norms of expected feminine behavior and raises questions about the content of the woman’s character as well as about her sexual orientation. Jamieson argues:

the childless single woman was assumed to be defective, either an asexual

spinster or a lesbian. The childless married woman was presumed to be so power-

driven and selfish that she deliberately sacrificed her child-bearing role for her

profession.161

160 Ibid., 890. 161 Jamieson, Kathleen Hall. 1995. Beyond the Double-Bind: Women and Leadership. 69.

60

In New Zealand, Helen Clark’s childlessness prompted constant speculation and in conjunction with her dynamic, assertive exercise of power, the media evoked an anomalous performance of femininity, casting her as a “political dominatrix – whose regime has been termed ‘Helengrad.’” 162 Similarly, in Australia, Julia Gillard was deemed “not qualified to lead the country because she is deliberately ‘barren;’”163 she was accused of not being able to formulate policies affecting Australian families because

“anyone who chooses a life without children, as Gillard has, cannot have much love in them;” 164 and, was described as an “unproductive old cow.” 165 Furthermore, in an astonishing demonstration of disrespect for a sitting prime minister, Gillard, whose partner is a professional hairdresser, had to answer questions in the media about his alleged homosexuality, activating implicitly the frame that a powerful woman is the castrator of her intimate partner.166

In the presence of kids, a woman candidate has also to negotiate the “bad mother” frame:

Sarah Palin faced the old adage that as a mother of five, including an infant with Down syndrome, she could not balance both the demands of a campaign and family life,

162 Trimble, Linda, and Natasja Treiberg. 2010. “‘Either Way, There’s Going to Be a Man in Charge’: Media Representations of New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark. Murray. In Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling: A Global Comparison of Women’s Campaigns for Executive Office.” edited by Rainbow Murray. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. 129. 163 2007 .“Barren Gillard ‘unfit to be PM’.” News.com.au, May 1. http://www.news.com.au/national/barren-gillard-unfit-to-be-pm/story-e6frfkp9-1111113448384 164 Kelly, Joe. 2011. “Mark Latham Says Julia Gillard Has No Empathy Because She’s Childless.” The Australian, April 4. Accessed March 28, 2014 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/mark- latham-says-julia-gillard-has-no-empathy-because-shes-childless/story-fn59niix-1226033174177 165 Keane, Bernard. 2012.‘Unproductive Old Cow’, Say One-Dimensional Old Men. Crikey, August 6. Accessed March 28, 2014 http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/08/06/unproductive-old-cow-say-one- dimensional-old-men/ 166 Murphy, Katharine. 2013. “Julia Gillard Asked by Radio Station If Her Partner Tim Mathieson Is Gay.” The Guardian, June 13. Accessed March 28, 2014 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/13/julia- gillard-howard-sattler-interview

61 culminating in sexist remarks like, “Should a mother of five children, including an infant with Down syndrome, be running for the second highest office in the land? Are her priorities misplaced?”167 Hillary Clinton, whose adult daughter, Chelsea, was one of her most staunch advocates on the campaign trail, did not have to answer questions about work-life arrangements but she was accused of “pimping out” her daughter to advance her career.168

3.4.4 First Woman

At first glance, the “first woman” frame appears to have positive connotations that can boost women’s electoral chances. Norris identifies three particular variants of the frame,

“women leaders as breakthroughs”, “women as political outsiders” and finally as “agents of change.”169 As we argued in the previous chapter, especially in an environment of political change where the male-dominated old guard has failed, these designations can be particularly beneficial. Furthermore, the novelty factors can capture the imagination of the public and increase the visibility of the candidate, at least at the beginning of a campaign.170

However, framing women as firsts can have pernicious effects for the perception of the individual candidate’s seriousness, as well as broader ramifications for the feminist

167 Woodall, Gina Serignese, Fridkin, Kim L., and Jill Carle. “Sarah Palin: ‘Beauty Is Beastly?’ An Exploratory Content Analysis of Media Coverage. In Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling: A Global Comparison of Women’s Campaigns for Executive Office, edited by Rainbow Murray. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. 102. 168 Calderone, Michael. 2008. “Reporter Initially Defended Chelsea Comment.” Politico, February 8. Accessed March 29, 2014 http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8408.html 169 Norris, Pippa. 1997. “Women Leaders Worldwide: A Splash of Color in the Photo Op.” In Women, Media, and Politics, edited by Pippa Norris. New York: Oxford University Press. 163 170 Murray, Rainbow, ed. 2010. Cracking the Highest Glass Ceiling: A Global Comparison of Women’s Campaigns for Executive Office. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger.

62 project. With regard to the former, it might cast a woman candidate as a “symbolic” candidate as opposed to a serious contender for the office. Given that experience is highly sought by voters in evaluating high office candidates, a woman first activates ingrained stereotypes about women’s qualification as a result of their historic confinement to the private sphere. Second, as a result of its “change” valence, it might disadvantage women running in an electoral environment seeking continuity, as they might be viewed as brining “too much” change. Most important, many times “first frame” appears erroneously since it erases the stories and achievements of our foremothers, and forces women in politics to reinvent the wheel, ignoring that women have mounted bids, have won elections, and governed in countries across the world.

Falk in her examination of nine women’s executive campaigns found distortions in herstory as media instead of reminding the efforts undertaken by previous women candidates, were consistent in silencing these and assigning the “novelty” frame to each subsequent woman:

the persistent framing of women as firsts de-normalizes them in the political field,

making the proposition of a woman candidate and president more risky and less

likely. […] the effects of reinforcing the notion of women as out of place and

unnatural in the political sphere may be longer lasting and have important

political consequences171.

3.4.5 Emotions

171 Falk, Erika. 2010. Women for President: Media Bias in Nine Campaigns (2nd ed.). 37

63 Another damaging frame, rooted in gender-linked stereotypes, is that women are too emotional to handle the pressure and demands of high office. Jamieson argues,

“throughout history, women have been identified as bodies, not minds, wombs not brains

[…] women are treated as if they are governed by their bodies and men as if they are ruled by their brains.”172 Women’s anatomy and reproductive functions have been used to disqualify them from high office-holding on the grounds that “‘raging hormonal influences’ caused by the menstrual cycle and menopause should exclude women from executive responsibility.”173 Though the latter comment was made in 1970, the same rationale has been reverberated in recent comments about “PMS and mood swings” being

“downsides of a female president.”174

Any public display of emotion from women has been used to evoke stereotypical gendered behavior, and negotiating this double-bind leads to lose-lose situations for women in politics: In 1987, when Representative Pat Schroeder gave an emotional press conference announcing that she would not seek the Democratic nomination, it was received with “embarrassment, sympathy and disgust”175 and reinforced the notion that women are incompetent and dissolve in the heat of high-powered politics. In 2008,

Hillary Clinton, who was viewed throughout her career in the public eye as an “ice queen” and lacking stereotypically female empathetic traits, teared up ahead of the New

172 Jamieson, Kathleen Hall. 1995. Beyond the Double-Bind: Women and Leadership. 53. 173 Ibid. 174 Hess, Amanda, and Katy Waldman. 2014. “The Downsides of Having a Female President.” Slate, February 27. Accessed March 30, 2014 http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/02/27/bill_o_reilly_asks_what_are_the_downsides_of_a_wom an_president_we_have_answers.html 175 Hu, Elise. 2011. “Campaign Trail Tears: The Changing Politics of Crying.” NPR, November 25. Accessed March 30, 2014 http://www.npr.org/2011/11/25/142599676/campaign-trail-tears-the-changing- politics-of-crying

64 Hampshire primary right after her loss in the Iowa caucuses.176 Rather that being praised for embracing a side of her personality that for too long has been criticized of not exhibiting in public, the incident was interpreted as a manifestation of manipulative femininity and a campaign ploy, leading to questions such as, “Can Hillary Cry Her Way

Back to the White House?”177

In 2011, Michele Bachmann ran for the Republican nomination and for a brief stint leaded the polls in the critical early state of Iowa;178 won the Ames straw poll; and delivered strong debate performances; 179 but was also associated with a pattern of controversial statements on U.S. history and extreme right wing positions on policy issues. However, Bachmann’s opinions were very similar to other candidates who vied for the same political space like Rick Santorum and Herman Cain. It was Bachmann though who was featured on the cover of Newsweek in an extreme close-up shot, eyes wide open and the title “The Queen of Rage.” Terry O’Neill, president of the National

Organization for Women, whose left-wing feminist views couldn’t be more different from Bachmann’s, acknowledges the blatant sexism of the cover:

Who has ever called a man ‘The King of Rage?’ Basically what Newsweek

magazine – and this is important, what Newsweek magazine, not a blog,

176 Parker, Jennifer. 2008. “Clinton Gets Emotional on Campaign Trail.” ABC News, January 7. Accessed March 30, 2014 http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2008/01/clinton-gets-em/ 177 Dowd, Maureen. 2008. “Can Hillary Cry Her Way Back to the White House?” The New York Times, January 9. Accessed March 30, 2014 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/opinion/08dowd.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 178Kleefeld, Eric. 2011. “Poll: Bachmann Now Leading in Iowa.” Talking Points Memo, July 11. Accessed March 30, 2014 http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/poll-bachmann-now-leading-in-iowa 179 Kurtz, Howard. 2011. “Bachmann’s Roundhouse Right.” The Daily Beast. August 8. Accessed March 30, 2014 http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/12/michele-bachmann-wins-republicans-iowa- debate.html

65 Newsweek magazine – what they are saying of a woman who is a serious

contender for President of the United States of America…They are basically

casting her as a nut job. The ‘Queen of Rage’ is something you apply to wrestlers

or somebody who is crazy. They didn’t even do this to Howard Dean when he had

his famous scream.180

Finally, another example that demonstrates the double-binds that women have to navigate comes from the 2007 presidential election in France. During the course of one of the televised debates between Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal, the two main contenders crossed swords on the sensitive topic of education for children with disabilities. Royal’s passionate defense of schooling disabled children in integrated school environments and vehement critique of Sarkozy’s positions was met with patronizing comments by her opponent:

NS: Calm yourself, madame.

SR: No, I will not calm down.

NS: You need to be calm to be President of the Republic…I don’t know why Mrs.

Royal, who is normally so calm, has lost her cool.

SR: I have not lost my cool, I am angry, sometimes it is right and healthy to be

angry.

180 2011. “Hey, Tina! NOW Has Come Out Against the Newsweek Cover.” Fox News, August 8. Accessed March 30, 2014 http://nation.foxnews.com/michele-bachmann/2011/08/08/backlash-over-bachmann- newsweek-cover

66 NS: You fly off the handle very easily.181

Royal’s display of emotion, received negative media attention ranging from dismissing her stance as a campaign gimmick (“Royal who is behind in the polls and needed to score points, immediately went on the offensive […] Sarkozy did not rise to Royal’s baiting”) 182 to commentary with gendered undertones such as The Economist’s observation that her performance was “shrill.”183

3.5 Practical Implications

Given the persistence of gender stereotypes and frames it is of paramount importance that a woman candidate has prepared in advance by having the gender and media literature and lessons learned from other women’s campaigns informing her media strategy.

Though the media can still distort and not reflect the candidate’s self-representation it is important that she persists on touting masculine personality traits, such as competence and decisiveness, and emphasizing experience on “hard” policy areas such as the economy and foreign policy. It is also critical to challenge notions that her novelty is the defining currency of her candidacy and point out to the fact that woman have run for executive office and succeeded in many countries around the world. With regard to questions about domestic arrangements she can challenge their underlying gendered nature and point out the fact that a similar one would have never been posed to a male

181 2007. “A Proper Fight Broke” The Economist. Accessed on March 30, 2014 Fhttp://www.economist.com/blogs/certainideasofeurope/2007/05/_a_proper_fight_broke 182 Leicester, John. 2007. “French Presidential Rivals Debate.” Washington Post, May 2. Accessed March 30, 2014 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/02/AR2007050202365.html 183 2007. “A Proper Fight Broke” The Economist. Accessed on March 30, 2014 Fhttp://www.economist.com/blogs/certainideasofeurope/2007/05/_a_proper_fight_broke

67 candidate. Pertaining to coverage of her physicality and the media’s penchant for trivializing references to sartorial choices, it could be useful to adopt a certain political image and stick to it because any stylistic change throughout the campaign will generate more media attention. Finally, it is important to speak up and challenge all the overt and subtle ways sexism informs her coverage as evidence shows that sexism hurts and bears consequences for her electoral support but “acknowledging and responding to sexist mistreatment by the media regains voters across the board and helps repair damage inflicted on a female candidate.”184

Sexism however is not only a candidate’s problem, but it is also the responsibility of activists and third-party validators to bring attention to issues of gendered media coverage. Monitoring quantitative and qualitative aspects of the coverage as the campaign unfolds and publicizing the results has the potential to make differential candidate treatment on the basis of gender part of the electoral discourse. A public and honest discussion about gender in politics and the double-binds that limit women’s choices might help the public understand that certain choices are not inherent personality flaws or campaign blunders but responses to gender stereotypes.185 Regardless of political ideology, such strategies have the potential to open up political space for all women and advance the project of gender equality. In the words of liberal feminists, who launched a

Palin Sexism Watch in the course of 2008 to document the ways Palin was trivialized and

184 Name It. Change It. “The Candidate’s Guide to Sexist Media Coverage.” 2. http://www.sheshouldrun.org/assets/documents/name-it-change-it-candidate-guide.pdf 185 Carroll, Susan J. 2009. “Reflections on Gender and Hillary Clinton’s Presidential Campaign: The Good, the Bad, and the Misogynic.” 10.

68 degraded, “we defend Sarah Palin against misogynist smears not because we endorse her or her politics, but because that’s how feminism works.”186

186 McEwan, Melissa. 2008. “Sarah Palin Sexism Watch #16.” Shakesville, September 19. Accessed March 30, 2014 http://www.shakesville.com/2008/09/sarah-palin-sexism-watch-16.html

69 Chapter 4: The Case Study of Dora Bakoyannis

During the course of this campaign I have received more vulgar attacks than any

other politician, male or female. Without political argumentation, they attack my

nature as a woman and they spread nasty rumors about my personal life, even my

relationship with my kids. [...] Those behaviors have an impact on all Greek

women. […] Greek women played a pivotal role in the struggles of our nation.

Women fought and commanded fleets during the Revolutionary War. Women

supported the Army during the war in Albania. Women stood up and supported

Greek society during very difficult moments. However, there are still people who

say that it would be better if a woman didn’t become the leader of a major

political party. Have they lost it? Why couldn’t happen in Greece what has

already happened in the UK, in Canada, in India, in Turkey, and in Pakistan? 188

years have passed since the day Greece declared its independence. It’s about time

to conclude the journey toward the full equality and equity of Greek women.187

4.1 Women in Greek Politics

In her own words, Dora Bakoyannis argues that the election of a woman in the leadership of a major party will shatter the highest glass ceiling and will be a watershed moment for gender equality in the country. Greek women were enfranchised in 1952, later than their counterparts in other European countries. One year later, Eleni Skouras became the first woman to win a seat in the Greek Parliament. For the first wave of women members of

187“Dora Bakoyanni’s Speech to Women Party Members of ND.” 2009, November 18. Accessed March 30, 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C8jDzF8z5A

70 the national legislature, from 1952 until the military junta of 1967, familial connections were the key to their access to political office -- out of the eight women elected MPs, four were political widows and two wives of politicians.188

Table 2: Women in the Greek National Legislature189

Year Women (%)

1974 7 (2.3)

1977 11 (3.7)

1981 13 (4.3)

1985 13 (4.3)

1989 (June) 13 (4.3)

1989 (November) 20 (6.7)

1990 16 (5.3)

1993 18 (6.0)

1996 19 (6.3)

2000 31 (10.3)

2004 39 (13.0)

2007 48 (16.0)

2009 52 (17.3)

2012 (May) 56 (18.7)

188 Pantelidou-Malouta, Maro. 2002. “The Gender of Democracy.” [in Greek]. Athens, Greece: Savvalas. 212-3. 189 Ibid., 213-6.; Vouli ton Ellinon. Gender Disaggregated Data for MPs. Accessed April 2, 2014 http://www.parliament.gr/Vouleftes/Statistika-Stoicheia/

71 2012 (June) 63 (21.0)

Since the fall of the junta in 1974 and the return to democracy, women’s representation in the national legislature has followed an upward trend, peaking at 21 percent in the last general election of 2012. However, these numbers fall short when considered in the context of the gender quota law (2910/2001) which requires one third of all party lists to be comprised of women. The presence of open party lists and preferential voting hinders the translation of the 33 percent quota into tangible political gains, because women’s inclusion in the lists does not imply their eventual election as is the case in countries that use both closed-list proportional representation systems and place women candidates in electable positions.

The majority of women who managed to get elected MPs belonged to left-wing parties with more egalitarian political philosophies, with PASOK and SYRIZA driving the trend.

Only two women have served as leaders of parties represented in the Parliament– Maria

Damanaki of Synaspismos and Aleka Papariga of the Greek Communist Party, both rose to the top of their parties in 1991. The advancements in the political representation of women were not accompanied by political clout with assignments in cabinet portfolios – from the declaration of independence until 1996, 1.487 men and only 19 women held ministerial position.190 The few women who served as ministers were concentrated in

“soft” areas, corresponding to stereotypical areas of female expertise like culture and health care. Vasso Papandreou’s tenure as Minister of Development in the late 90s and as

Minister of Environment and Public Works in the early 00s, and Dora Bakoyannis’ tenure

190 Pantelidou-Malouta, Maro. 2002. “The Gender of Democracy.” [in Greek]. 218.

72 in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 2006-2009 period mark a departure from that trend. In the aftermath of PASOK’s general election victory in 2009, George

Papandreou’s 36-member cabinet consisted of a record number of nine women (25 percent), but the majority assumed “soft” portfolios, except for Louka Katseli, whose appointment as Minister for the Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping signified a breakthrough.191

At the local level, women’s representation lags further behind. Following the 2010 local elections, women “made up 14.82 percent of the total vice Regional Governors, 15.75 percent of all Regional Councilors, 16.07 percent of all Municipal Councilors. Eight (8) women across the country were elected Mayors (2.47 percent).”192 No woman won in any of the three politically consequential mayoralties of the country (Athens, Piraeus,

Thessaloniki). The reality of Greek women being more successful in their political representation at the national level rather than in low-level positions is surprising since gender stereotypes about women’s compassionate personality traits and perceived expertise in social policy better position them to win local political office.

4.2 Legal Frameworks, Structural Parameters and Public Attitudes

Bakoyannis’ candidacy did not occur in a vacuum; therefore it is critical to situate it within the Greek gender contract by considering institutional and legal frameworks on

191 2009. “Boosted (As Had Been Promised) Female Presence” [in Greek] To Vima, October 7. Accessed April 2, 2014 http://www.tovima.gr/politics/article/?aid=292474&wordsinarticle=γυναίκες 192 General Secretariat for Gender Equality. 2012. “National Programme for Substantive Gender Equality 2010-2013”. Athens. 31

73 gender equality, structural factors, as well as public attitudes about women in the political sphere.

Gender equality was enshrined into the 1975 Constitution stipulating equal rights for

Greek women and men. During the first period of PASOK’s socialist governance (1981-

1985) landmark pro-equality legislation was enacted in the country, fulfilling the responsibilities stemming from the ascension to the European Economic Community

(EEC) and the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), but also in response to the demands of a burgeoning women’s movement.193 The Family Law reform of 1983 stands out in that it abolished the anachronistic practice of dowry, obliged women to keep their maiden name after marriage, established divorce by mutual consent, and replaced paternal authority with parental care in relation to legal responsibility for children. In 1984, legislation was enacted aiming at reforming gender relations in the workplace and addressing gender wage gaps and occupational segregation. Lastly, in 1986, during PASOK’s second period of governance, sexual and reproductive rights were addressed, with abortion taking center stage, though it is important to note that the issue was framed in terms of mitigating risks to women’s health as opposed to acknowledging feminist issues of agency.194

Lyberaki argues that gender equality in Greece was viewed through a lens of “legalistic formalism” that was self-congratulatory and deemed a problem solved once legislation was passed: “it was seen as a ‘thing’ that can be patched on by an act of legislative will. It

193 Davaki, Konstantina. 2013. “The Policy on Gender Equality in Greece.” Brussels, Belgium: European Parliament, Directorate General for Internal Policies, 6-7 194 Ibid., 15-6

74 was further implicitly believed that ‘women could be let in’ without substantially changing anything, or allowing for new roles.” 195 Eventually, the efforts fell short because they ignored structural features of the labor market and social arrangements. For instance, while gender gaps at all levels of education have almost eclipsed,196 women’s educational attainments have not been translated into equal progress in the workplace.

The female labor force participation is estimated at around 40 percent, lower than they

EU average and is characterized by lingering occupational gender segregation.197 Equal pay for equal work remains more of a talking point than a lived reality with women making 86.40 percent of what men make in the public sector, and the gap widens further in the private sector where women make 73.89 percent of what men earn.198

Cultural attitudes about gender equality are consequential for women’s advancement in the political realm. 199 According to the Center for Research on Equality Issues an outright majority of the Greek public views in a positive light the presence of women in politics and supports affirmative action measures (such as gender quotas) to increase their numbers at all levels of public life.200 It is telling that the Greek public lists as the first reason a male politician runs for office “to gain power” while a woman is running “to

195 Lyberaki, Antigone. 2010. The Record of Gender Policies in Greece 1980-2010: Legal Form and Economic Substance. GreeSE Paper No 36. Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe. 31. 196 General Secretariat for Gender Equality. 2008. Levels of Education of the Population Aged 15 and Older by Employment Status and Sex, 2008 2nd Quarter. http://www.isotita.gr/index.php/docs/c179/ 197 European Commission. Female Labour Market Participation. http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/themes/31_labour_market_participation_of_women.pdf 198 General Secretariat for Gender Equality. 2011. Average Net Monthly Salary by Sex for 2011 (Public and Private Sectors) http://www.isotita.gr/index.php/docs/c40/ 199 Inglehart, Ronald, and Pippa Norris. 2003. Rising Tide: Gender Equality and Cultural Change Around the World. Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press. 200 Center for Research on Equality Issues (KETHI). 2006. “Women’s Participation in Decision-Making Centers in Greece.” Athens, Greece. Questions 23, 24. 155-6.

75 solve problems.”201 That finding reverberates gender-linked traits attributed to women such as honesty and integrity that help them represent a break from the status quo in a political environment receptive to change. However, gender-linked stereotypes are used as shortcuts to predict competence in policy issues and that bears electoral risks for women who are associated with “soft” policy areas that are more likely to be valued as salient in the context of local elections. Indeed, issue stereotyping is clearly manifested in the Greek context where the top five policy domains associated with male competence are the economy, foreign policy, national security, energy and growth, and public order, while women are viewed as more competent in the areas of gender equality, social policy, education, culture, and public health.202

Another implication of traits and issue stereotyping is that they render high executive office more masculinized since the instrumental traits and “hard” policy areas expertise that men are considered to possess are valued more. Also, the fact that the office was always associated with a man has instilled and normalized a masculinist ethos and ideology in the institution. Figure 1 reveals that almost 90 percent of Greeks would vote a woman for the position of mayor or prefect but that percentage drops to 80 percent when asked whether they would vote for a woman head of government and drops further to 76 percent about vote intention for a woman head of state, though the president is not directly elected by a popular vote.203 These numbers might be an overwhelming majority but the fact that 10.6 percent and 14.5 percent would “definitely not” vote for a woman

PM and president respectively is extremely problematic and has the potential to have an

201 Ibid., Questions 5, 6, 18. 138, 149. 202 Ibid., Questions 26, 28. 158, 160. 203 Ibid., Question 7. 139.

76 impact in a close competitive election. Finally, since the political system is party-driven and the leader of the party who wins the popular vote receives the mandate to form a government, it is worth examining attitudes about the role of the party leader. A 53 percent majority believes the Greek political system is not ready for a woman party leader with 10.7 and 33.4 percent stating that the country is “very” or “somewhat” ready respectively.204 Given that other than the two women of far-left parties who have served at the helm of their parties, men have dominated party politics from the towering figures of Konstantinos Karamanlis and Andreas Papandreou to iconic figures of the left such as

Charilaos Florakis, therefore it not surprising that women party leaders are not viewed as normative.

Figure 1: Voting Intentions for a Woman Prefect, Mayor, President, Prime Minister

Definitely Yes Probably Yes Probably Not Definitely Not

Prefect 72.1 16.6 3.9 6.3

Mayor 74.6 17.3 2.64.9

President 51.5 24.6 8.1 14.5

Prime Minister 54.2 26.2 7.6 10.6

204 Ibid., Question 63. 194.

77 Figure 2: Attitudes About Women Leaders of Major Parties

Is Greece ready for a woman leader of a major party?

13% 11%

Very A lot A little 35% Not at all 41%

4.3 The Political Context

On September 4th, 2009, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis took by surprise political adversaries and members of his own governing party by announcing a snap general election to be held one month later, two years ahead of schedule. The move was perceived as a political suicide given that PASOK had decisively defeated Nea

Dimokratia in last June’s European election and had momentum on its side as reflected in public opinion polls that were predicting a shellacking for Karamanlis’ party.205 The polls came true and on October 4th the center-right party was crashed by PASOK gathering only 33.48 percent of the vote, the worst electoral showing in the history of the center- right party.

205 Kounalaki, Ksenia. 2009. “Ideal Suicides” [in Greek] Kathimerini. September 4. Accessed May 2, 2014 http://www.kathimerini.gr/716192/opinion/epikairothta/arxeio-monimes-sthles/idanikoi-aytoxeires

78 In retrospect, Karamanlis’ decision to call for a snap election seems a political necessity and not the ill-advised gambit that was covered in the press. Plagued by corruption scandals and inability to deliver on the promises he made on the campaign trail in 2007

Karamanlis did not possess any political capital required not only to govern but to push for a package of austerity measures that he promised would bring the country back from the brink of economic catastrophe.206 Months later it would be revealed that Karamanlis had lied on the campaign trail about the severity of the situation and the true state of the economy. For instance, the 2009 true deficit figure was covered up and in reality it was three times higher than the official figures suggested.207

An alternative explanation for the decision to call snap election entails political strategies surrounding the 2010 election of the president of the Republic. The president is elected by the parliament with a required 180-vote super majority. That practically means that the two major parties need to co-operate since an unwritten rule of metapolitefsi was that the prime minister would nominate for president a member of the opposition in order to guarantee the votes of the opposition block. PASOK had made explicit that it would trigger a snap election in the spring by refusing to renew the term of incumbent president,

Carolos Papoulias. PASOK’s stance on the issue meant that the country would experience a protracted campaign period that would make impossible the adoption of the tough policy measures for the enfeebled economy; therefore, an early election in October had

206 Chiotis, Vassilis. 2009. “How We Reached the Snap Election” [in Greek]. To Vima, September 6. Accessed May 2, 2014 http://www.tovima.gr/politics/article/?aid=286953&wordsinarticle=Καραμανλής 207 2013. “Greece’s Statistics Chief Faces Charges Over Claims of Inflated 2009 Deficit Figure.” Kathimerini, January 22. Accessed May 2, 2014 http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_22/01/2013_479717

79 the potential to avoid a political impasse that would drag for months and give the winner a fresh mandate to handle the rapidly deteriorating economy. Kovras explains:

A provision in Article 32 of the Constitution stipulates that, unless the 180-vote

majority within the parliament (sic), the parliament is automatically dissolved.

This provision paves the way for elections in case there is no necessary majority

to elect the President. The leader of the major opposition party PASOK, Giorgos

Papandreou, had declared that he would have exploited this provision in the

forthcoming (February 2010) Presidential election by refusing to support the re-

election of Carolos Papoulias, incumbent President (and former PASOK minister

of foreign affairs), in order to trigger elections. Karamanlis concluded that a

lingering pre-election period would have had a negative impact on the ailing

Greek economy and opted for early elections.208

On the night of his defeat, Karamanlis resigned, opening the way for the election of the new party leader. Moments after Karamanlis’ announcement, the three widely assumed contenders, Dora Bakoyannis, Antonis Samaras, and Dimitris Avramopoulos, made public statements, which focused mainly on praising the outgoing party leader and left only subtle hints about their imminent bids. Being politically savvy players they had learned from PASOK’s 2007 primary and had internalized the lessons that in the aftermath of a historic defeat hurried moves risk being seen as opportunistic and self-

208 Kovras, Iosif. 2010. “Notes on Recent Elections: The Parliamentary Election in Greece, October 2009.” Electoral Studies 29 (2): 293.

80 promoting at the expense of party unity.209 All three had served in Karamanlis’ last cabinet -- Bakoyannis as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samaras as Minister of Culture, and

Avramopoulos as Minister of Health. All three made little efforts during the course of their political careers to conceal their political ambitions. Bakoyannis was frequently touted as the number two in the government and aspiring party leader; Samaras, following a clash with Mitsotakis in 1993, left Nea Dimokratia to form a splinter party but after his initial success his political project faltered and he returned to ND in 2004;

Avramopoulos also formed his own party in 2001 but this endeavor was short-lived and he re-joined the ranks of ND. The only element of surprise was the fourth candidacy of

Panagiotis Psomiadis, who threw his hat in the ring a few days after Karamanlis’ resignation. Psomiadis, the prefect of Macedonia, was dismissed as a long shot, not only because of the niche characteristics of his candidacy, appealing to the conservative audiences of northern Greece, but because he was widely regarded as a lightweight without significant achievements under his belt, whose claim to fame was bizarre public appearances such as parading the streets of Thessaloniki riding a horse dressed like

Zorro.

As discussed in the introduction, Bakoyannis was a shoo-in to replace Karamanlis as the new leader of ND. Bakoyannis had spent years in the party, never left it to pursue her

209 On September 16th, 2007, PASOK led by George Papandreou suffered a second consecutive electoral defeat by ND led by Karamanlis. The magnitude of the defeat was higher than the one predicted in polling surveys, and Papandreou, who was criticized for failing to renew the party and capitalize on the failures of ND, announced his resignation but clarified that he would seek re-election. Moments later, Evangelos Venizelos, one of the most visible and popular members of PASOK stated, “It is obvious that I am present” as the prelude to his candidacy. The timing of the phrase came to symbolize Venizelos’ prioritizing of his own personal ambition, and along with a series of strategic mistakes during the course of the campaign, Venizelos, who was considered the inevitable winner, eventually lost clearly to Papandreou by an 18 percent margin.

81 personal leadership aspirations as opposed to Samaras and Avramopoulos, delivered victories such as winning the Mayoralty of Athens in 2002 and cultivated powerful networks of political allies and supporters. Furthermore, according to the party constitution the new president would get elected by the party convention within a month, by a body of approximately 4,800 delegates consisting of party officials and activists.

Within the first phase of the campaign, Bakoyannis flexed her political muscle and published a list with the names of 1,000 of these delegates openly endorsing her candidacy. In a nutshell, the stars seemed aligned in Bakoyannis’ favor and her opponents did not possess the time or resources to turn the tables.

Seeing that there was no political opening in the existing environment and slated for a clear defeat, the strategy her opponents promoted was to change the rules of the election.

Dimitris Avramopoulos first opened the conversation for a direct election of the next leader in open primaries, for the first time in ND’s history; Samaras and Psomiadis quickly jumped on the bandwagon. Bakoyannis did not openly reject the idea of a primary election since as she mentioned she was the first to propose direct election from the party members in 2000;210 however, she noted that the rules and the party constitution could not change overnight to accommodate individual strategies. Her counter-offer consisted of three points: moving on with the existing process of electing a new leader at the scheduled party convention; amending at the convention the clause of the party constitution pertaining to the election of the president; and, eventually organizing an open primary within a few months’ timeframe to legitimize the election from the

210 Triantafullou, Elli, and Yorgos Terzis. 2009. “Karamanlis Leaves on November 7.” [in Greek]. Kathimerini, October 9. Accessed May 10, 2014 http://www.kathimerini.gr/372380/article/epikairothta/politikh/apoxwrei-stis-7-noemvrioy-o-karamanlhs

82 convention.211 In an effort to expand the agenda and be associated with renewal and accountability, she also promised to open the discussion about term limits for the president of the party.212

The idea of an open primary found immediate purchase for two main reasons -- first, because of the historic nature of the defeat, party members wanted their voices to be heard and have a direct say in the process, as was the case in PASOK in 2004 and 2007, giving a cathartic character to the process.213 Second, the enthusiasm of the 2008 primary election between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and the entire communications paradigm of Obama’s grassroots organizing and harnessing of online tools, had made an impression in Europe, as evidenced by the 2008 Obama-mania and the rock star treatment he received during the European leg of his international tour.214 References to Obama were reverberated clearly in the 2009 general election as well in the discourse of the under examination leadership contest.215 In that light, a closed process seemed even more like a thing of the past and out-of-sync with modern political reality. Bakoyannis’ adherence to the rules and the party documents was framed by her opponents as a quick party coup in order to gain power. “Who is afraid of the vote of the party base” became a

211 2009. “Dora Bakoyannis: Surprised Opponents by Officially Announcing Her Candidacy.” Kathimerini, October 13. Accessed May 10, 2014 http://www.kathimerini.gr/372829/article/epikairothta/politikh/ntora- mpakogiannh-aifnidiase-antipaloys-me-epishmh-ypoyhfiothta 212 Ibid. 213 Mavris, Yannis. 2009. “Low Interest for the Succession.” [in Greek]. Kathimerini, October 25. Accessed May 14, 2014 http://www.kathimerini.gr/376606/article/epikairothta/politikh/symfwnhsan-oti-diafwnoyn- oi-prwhn-loxagoi 214 2008. “Obamamania Grips Europe.” The Economist, June 24. Accessed May 10, 2014 http://www.economist.com/node/11780828 215 2009. “Bakoyannis and Samaras Square Off for the First Time.” [in Greek]. Kathimerini, November 7. Accessed May 10, 2014 http://www.kathimerini.gr/375487/article/epikairothta/politikh/prwth-anametrhsh- mpakogiannh---samara; Triantafullou, Elli, and Yorgos Terzis. 2009. “Two Strategic Recommendations for ND” [in Greek]. Kathimerini, November 8. Accessed May 10, 2014 http://www.kathimerini.gr/375547/article/epikairothta/politikh/dyo-strathgikes-protaseis-gia-th-nd

83 leitmotiv of Samaras who used it successfully to cast himself as a champion of the anonymous party member in contrast to Bakoyannis, who was presented as seeking a coronation from the party elites.

The framing of the convention as elite backroom-dealing was blended with rumors that

Bakoyannis influenced Karamanlis to call a snap election that ND was certain to lose.

These rumors were articulated publicly by prominent supporters of Samaras, accusing

Bakoyannis of sacrificing the good of the party for her own ambition, 216 while her detractors remained silent on the true state of the economy and the imminent catastrophe that necessitated dramatic political maneuvers. These accusations were also gendered, activating a frame of manipulative femininity, in which female power-seeking is trivialized and “put down to petty motives.” 217 Dora Bakoyannis was framed as a modern-day empress Theodora, whispering in the ears of Karamanlis and scheming behind closed doors with Byzantine zeal, in order to orchestrate her ascent to the party throne.

Issues of ideology and identity were also at play since within the Greek center-right two main factions, Karmanlinkoi and Mitsotakikoi, competed for power and intra-party influence. These factions were named after the founder of the party and first prime minister of metapolitefsi, Konstantinos Karamanlis, and Konstantinos Mitsotakis, prime

216 2009. “Messrs. Liapis and Tsitouridis Reappear and Go on the Offense.” [in Greek]. Kathimerini, October 6. Accessed May 10, 2014 http://www.kathimerini.gr/372011/article/epikairothta/politikh/epanemfanish-twn-k-m-liaph-kai-s- tsitoyridh-me-voles 217 Dixon, Suzanne. 1992. “Conclusion – The Enduring Theme: Domineering Dowagers and Scheming Concubines.” In Stereotypes of Women in Power: Historical Perspectives and Revisionist Views edited by Barbara Garlick, Suzanne Dixon and Pauline Allen. Connecticut: Greenwood Press. 215.

84 minister from 1990 to 1993, respectively. Both men were protagonists not only in the political landscape after the return to democracy but also before the military junta of

1967. Karamanlis was the leader of the Greek Right, the National Radical Union (ERE), precursor to ND, and had served three terms as prime minister from 1955 to 1963.

Mitsotakis, on the other hand, was a prominent member of the centrist Center Union

(EK), under the leadership of Georgios Papandreou, father of future prime ministers

Andreas Papandreou (1981-89; 1993-96) and grandfather of George Papandreou (2009-

11). However, Mitsotakis crossed the floor in 1965 executing a plan known as Apostasia that resulted in forcing Georgios Papandreou out of office. After metapolitefsi, Mitsotakis joined Karamanlis’ ND in 1978, resulting in him being perceived both a traitor by the followers of Papandreou and a foreign body in Karamanlis’ ND. Aside from personality dynamics and allegiance to political families, there were underlying ideological differences between Karamanlismos and Mitsotakismos. The main pillars of

Karamanlismos were social conservatism, economic populism, and European integration.

Mitsotakismos, as was clearly articulated during Mitsotakis’ tenure as prime minister, was marked by free-market reforms and a spirit of realpolitik in foreign policy and more specifically with regard to the naming dispute with the Former Yugoslavic Republic of

Macedonia (FYROM) and the relationship with the United States.218

By virtue of family ties, the underlying conflict was reported within the context of the

2009 election – Bakoyannis is the daughter of Mitsotakis while Kostas Karamanlis is the nephew of Konstantinos Karamanlis. It is worth noting that the ideological differences had almost disappeared and Bakoyannis and Karamanlis had developed an honest and

218 Bratakos, Aggelos. 2002. The History of Nea Dimokratia. [in Greek]. Athens: Livanis. 232-50, 369-403.

85 harmonious working relationship. Bakoyannis had Karamanlis’ back in every major policy issue and was one of his most ardent defenders during the general election.

Samaras’ candidacy, however, added a new dimension to the old ideological divide within the center-right party. Samaras had served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Mitsotakis from 1990 to 1992 but was removed from his post as result of his disagreement with the prime minister over the naming dispute with FYROM. Samaras was the standard-bearer of a hard-line ultra-nationalist approach rejecting the use of the name Macedonia in any compound name even moderated by a geographic qualifier. In the aftermath of his removal, Samaras triggered a series of defections of party backbenchers and as a result Mitsotakis’ government lost its majority, and a snap election was called, which was decisively won by PASOK.219 Though it is hard to argue that

Samaras was expressing Karamanlismos, for sure he was representing anti-

Mitsotakismos220 and his political comeback presented a chance to settle old scores with

Mitsotakis and take his revenge 16 years later by defeating his daughter.

The third main contender, Avramopoulos, became Samaras’ Trojan horse in his effort to achieve his political goals. Though he started the race vying with Samaras for the second place and his proposal for a direct election of the new president from the party base was well received, he failed to gain traction and quickly his candidacy faltered. The historic undertones of the competition between Samaras and Bakoyannis and the compelling media narrative that such a duel created left little political space to Avramopoulos to emerge as the main challenger to Bakoyannis, the clear frontrunner at the outset of the

219 Ibid., 579-88. 220 Tegopoulos, Thanassis. 2009. “Apostates and Loyalists” [in Greek]. Eleftherotypia, November 8. Accessed May 2, 2014 http://www.enet.gr/?i=news.el.article&id=99723

86 campaign. Eventually, Avramopoulos dropped out of the race a month into the campaign but his decision to endorse one of the remaining contenders proved consequential.

Though his policy positions were considerably closer to Bakoyannis’ own moderate record, Avramopoulos chose to cast his weight behind Samaras evoking their agreement over the process for the election of the party leader. More important, Avramopoulos’ endorsement enabled Samaras to inoculate himself from accusations that he is too right- wing and outside the mainstream of the party. Samaras promised that together with

Avramopoulos they could guarantee the extension of the appeal of the party to both centrist and right-wing voters at the same time. Bakoyannis accused Samaras and

Avramopoulos of opportunistic alliances that did not have substantive political meaning but nevertheless Samaras gained momentum and took a lead in the polls that Bakoyannis never managed to reverse.221

It is difficult to argue that the political stratagem of her opponents had anything to do with Bakoyannis’ gender rather than being a politically savvy reading of the situation from two trailing candidates who joined forces to take on a formidable front-runner.

However, based on the literature and the anecdotes from women running for executive office around the world, we’ll try to examine the degree to which the strategy of her opponents (first to cast Bakoyannis as clinging to a closed process in order to quickly ascend to the throne, and then to combine forces against her) found electoral purchase

221 Zoulas, Konstantinos. 2009. “Political Consultants Predict a Close Result.” [in Greek]. Kathimerini, November 29. Accessed May 11, 2014 http://www.kathimerini.gr/377773/article/epikairothta/politikh/ntermpi-h-anametrhsh-kata-toys- epikoinwniologoys

87 because of gendered assumptions about women in power that operated in the political background and eventually contributed to Bakoyannis’ defeat.

4.4 Methodology

For the purpose of content analysis three major newspapers, Kathimerini, To Vima, and

Proto Thema were chosen. These sources were selected on the basis of readership as evidenced in circulation numbers and the representation of a plurality of ideological views. Kathimerini and To Vima are daily newspapers that are highly respected for providing high-brow political analysis and are aligned with center-right and center-left ideologies respectively. Proto Thema is a weekly tabloid published every Sunday and enjoys the widest readership. All three have online archives of their print editions but

Proto Thema, since it is published only once a week, has additional online content during the other days. The search terms used were the last names of the four contenders

“Bakoyannis”, “Samaras”, “Psomiadis”, and “Avramopoulos” and the period of analysis covers the entire primary campaign, from October 4th, 2009, the day Karamanlis resigned, until November 29th, 2009, the election day, comprising a total of 57 days. The search yielded 811 news items, consisting of 4,786 paragraphs. The coding protocol is presented in the annex.

To measure the quantity of coverage each candidate received, the basic unit of analysis was the paragraph. A second quantitative variable is the appearance of the candidate in the headline or byline of the news item. The type of coverage each candidate received was operationalized on a four-point scale: issue coverage, event coverage, horse-race, and

88 name.222 The issue category captures substantive coverage the candidate received with regard to policy issues such as the economy and foreign policy. Since the campaign under examination was a leadership contest, any reference to a candidate’s position on the selection process (convention or open primaries) as well as ideas about the renewal of the party, were considered issue coverage. Event coverage pertains to coverage of campaign activities such as making campaign stops or giving speeches. Horse-race coverage refers to the game aspects of the race, i.e. who is winning and losing and assessments of the candidate’s viability. Lastly, name coverage captures references that merely reference a candidate outside the context of the campaign. For example, a mention of Bakoyannis’ tenure as the mayor of Athens or as the daughter of Mitsotakis was considered name coverage. If a candidate received more than one type of coverage in the same paragraph it was placed in the higher category. For example, if Samaras’ economic positions were discussed in conjunction with campaign activities, it was coded as issue rather than event coverage.

Three indicators were used to measure the tone of the coverage: the tone of the headline, the tone of the entire article as well as the tone of each paragraph. The differentiation between tone of the article and tone of the paragraph was necessary in order to be able to capture the nuance between different sources of information. The source of the article was always considered the journalist while the source of the paragraph could have been the same journalist or a political actor (e.g. the candidate, a supporter, an outside group).

Had that distinction not been made and only the tone of the article been examined, in an

222 Hinojosa, Magda Belen. 2001. “Women Political Candidates and the News Media: The Case of Irene Saez.” 11.

89 article written from a neutral point of view, which contained paragraphs discussing criticism of a candidate by another candidate, the latter could not have been accounted for. Two dimensions were used, proposed by the Observatorio di Pavia to establish the tone: the intrinsic value of the event and the evaluation of the source. A value of 1 indicated positive tone, 0 neutral and -1 negative. A paragraph presenting a public opinion poll in which Bakoyannis was leading Samaras was coded as positive (1) for

Bakoyannis and negative (-1) for Samaras, on the grounds of the intrinsic value of the event. With regard to evaluation, a paragraph discussing a speech in which Bakoyannis criticized Samaras was coded as neutral (0) for Bakoyannis and negative (-1) for

Samaras. The valence of the evaluation always trumped the intrinsic value of the event and the following rules were used:

 When evaluation and intrinsic value coincide, the bias is the shared one.

 If one of the two dimensions (evaluation or intrinsic value) is neutral and the other

is positive or negative, the bias takes on the positive or negative value

 The evaluation always prevails over the value, unless it is neutral (0)223

A second coder was used for a randomly selected number of articles (53 news items accounting for 6.5 percent of the overall sample) and paragraphs (146, 3.1 percent) for

223 Llanos, Beatriz, and Juana Nina. 2011. “Election Coverage from a Gender Perspective: A Media Monitoring Manual.” Stockholm, Sweden: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. 37-8.

90 the subjective variables pertaining to type and tone of coverage, yielding very high degree of agreement.224

Finally, the articles were analyzed for a series of indicators that have been identified in the literature as gendered and have been used to the detriment of women candidates: the ways each candidate was referenced (first name only, first name and last name, last name only) in the body of the article as well as in the headline/byline, mentions of the candidate’s appearance, mentions of the candidate’s family, and discussion of the gender of Bakoyannis.

Table 3: Method for Obtaining the Bias of a News Story225

224 Intercoder agreement for the tone of the article was 90.1 percent, for the tone of the headline 91.4 percent, for the tone of the paragraph 91.8 percent and for the type of the coverage 84 percent. 225 Osservatorio di Pavia, cited in Llanos, Beatriz, and Juana Nina. 2011. “Election Coverage from a Gender Perspective: A Media Monitoring Manual.” 38.

91

4.5 Gender Stereotypes in Perceptions of Bakoyannis

Public perceptions of Bakoyannis’ personality traits defied stereotypical gendered expectations associating women with “soft” attributes. In the light of evidence across the world as well as in Greece that executive office is extremely masculinized, Bakoyannis’ high evaluations of her instrumental traits, theoretically, should have worked to her advantage. More specifically, she was viewed as being “tough” (46 percent), “dynamic”

(43 percent), “intelligent” (40 percent), “possessing strong convictions” (33 percent),

“persuasive” (33 percent), “hardworking” (29 percent), and with a “vision for the country” (28 percent). Bakoyannis was also considered “as the one who can win the next general election and defeat Papandreou” and “be a better prime minister.” Furthermore,

Bakoyannis’ male opponents were trailing her in every single one of these categories.

One possible explanation might be that Bakoyannis was the only one commanding a

“hard” portfolio (foreign policy) and was able to project strength on the world stage, as was the case in vetoing FYROM’s NATO membership in Bucharest in 2008 over the naming dispute. 226 On the other hand, Samaras was the minister for Culture,

Avramopoulos Minister for Health, and Psomiadis the prefect of Macedonia. Samaras had cabinet experience in foreign policy and the economy but that was during the 1989-

92 period. Second, Bakoyannis was a seasoned politician and continuously visible in elite politics for years; therefore, she was able to control her personal narrative and establish

226 2008. “Dejection in Bucharest: Jilted Macedonia Walks Out of NATO Summit.” Spiegel, April 3. Accessed May 2, 2014 http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/dejection-in-bucharest-jilted-macedonia- walks-out-of-nato-summit-a-545214.html

92 her toughness and resilience as a woman who carried on and raised her kids after the assassination of her husband, secured victories and navigated party politics unscathed.

However, performing gender in public life entails some sort of negotiation of the toughness/softness, too masculine/too feminine double-bind that Bakoyannis was not able to escape. Had she appeared too feminine exhibiting stereotypically compassionate and nurturing traits she might have been dismissed for not possessing what is mostly valued in a leader. But by successfully conveying masculine instrumentality she was not conforming to gender norms and therefore she might have been penalized for that. Her masculinist construction earned her appellations like “Gladiator Dora” suggesting an anomalous performance of femininity.227 In addition, the lowest evaluations she received were on “honesty” (17 percent) and “likeability”(13 percent), stereotypically feminine traits. The political environment conditions the demand for masculine characteristics, as is the case during a national security crisis, but a political transition or scandals might open up space for women to represent change by virtue of their outsider status in politics and their “essential” woman nature. Given that the primary election took place after a crashing defeat for the party in the last general election, it seems more plausible that voters yearned for change as opposed to continuity and politics as usual. The same trend was manifested during PASOK’s primary election in 2007 – Venizelos, who started the campaign as the undisputed favorite, promised a quick return to power and touted his ability to defeat ND, while Papandreou, who it is worth noting was the sitting leader of the party, promised to renew the party before contesting power for the sake of power. In

227 2009. “ZapZap” [in Greek] Eleftherotypia, November 19. Accessed May 2, 2014 http://www.enet.gr/?i=news.el.article&id=103443

93 PASOK’s case it was Papandreou’s ability to convince that he could represent change that propelled him to victory.

Similarly, after five years in power marred by corruption scandals, ND’s base wanted to hear how the party could change as opposed to quickly return to power. As a result, this might not have been the most conducive environment for Bakoyannis to showcase her ability to perform masculinity and rest on her masculine laurels, foregoing the advantages that her gender could have provided. Tempting as it may sound to raise questions about

Bakoyannis’ campaign strategy and reading of the situation, it is worth remembering that women candidates are not afforded the same flexibility that men candidates enjoy since the categories of “woman” and “feminine” are not construed as the norm in politics.

Figure 3: Perceptions of Candidates’ Personality Traits 228

50 45 40 35 30 25 Bakoyannis 20 Samaras 15 Psomiadis 10 Avramopoulos 5 0

228 Public Issue. October 2009. Public Attitudes Toward the Party Leader Election in ND [in Greek]. Graph 7: Candidates’ Personality Traits.

94

Figure 4: Perceptions of Candidates’ Leadership Qualities229

Can renew the party

Can keep the party united

Can represent ND party voters Avramopoulos Will be better Prime Minister Psomiadis Samaras Will be better leader of the opposition Bakoyannis

Can defeat George Papandreou

Can win next general election

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

By the final stretch of the campaign, Samaras had managed to close most gaps noticed at the beginning of the contest, with his perception as someone who “has the best ideas and policies” and “can defend the national interest” catching up to Bakoyannis, even surpassing her in certain dimension (“makes you feel secure”) while maintaining his other strategic advantages. Bakoyannis, on the other hand, had not managed to convince the audience that she possessed the warmth and compassionate traits that were sacrificed at the expense of conforming to the masculine paradigm. More specifically, she was continued to be viewed as less honest that Samaras (51 percent to 32 percent) and less

229 Public Issue. October 2009. Public Attitudes Toward the Party Leader Election in ND [in Greek]. Graphs 13/14: Comparison of Candidates’ Leadership Qualities.

95 close to average Greeks (52 percent to 32 percent). Also, hindering any effort to represent and signify change was the fact that she was viewed as “dependent on entrenched interests” (47 percent to 16 percent).230

Based on the final result and his landslide victory, Samaras probably ran a better campaign than Bakoyannis. However, because his leadership mettle was not questioned, he was able to expand his perceived strategic strengths, and viewed simultaneously as a strong leader who embodies honesty and defends the little guy. On the other hand,

Bakoyannis remained with a deficit in her equilibrium of instrumental strengths and compassionate weaknesses and that has probably gendered undertones.

In order to assess whether Bakoyannis experienced the ideological stereotyping that other women candidates suffer from, we examine two proxies: the self-identification of her voter base as well as campaign discourses about her policy positions. First, according to a poll conducted during the final weeks of the campaign,231 Samaras was clearly leading

Bakoyannis (42.9 to 37.2 percent) but a breakdown by ideological identification of their voters offers valuable insights. On a scale from one to ten, where one stands for

“extremely left-wing” and ten for “extremely right-wing,” voters who self-identified as nine and ten were favoring Samaras by significant margins (44.5 to 31.3 percent). Among those who identified with the positions seven and eight on the spectrum Samaras continued to lead but by slightly less (45.8 to 35.9 percent). Finally, the vote intention

230 Public Issue. November 2009. Public Attitudes Toward the Party Leader Election in ND: Third Polling Wave [in Greek]. Comparison of Bakoyannis and Samaras’ Personality Traits and Leadership Qualities. 231 Public Opinion Poll for Eleftheros Typos. November, 11-12 2009. Voter Intentions By Ideological Self- Identification. 14.

96 gap between Samaras and Bakoyannis was almost eclipsed (43.1 to 42 percent) among more centrist voters who self-identified with positions five and six in the ideological continuum. Though these numbers reflect clearly that Samaras was scoring better with the right-wing elements of the party while Bakoyannis drew electoral support from more moderate voters, they do not answer the question of whether Bakoyannis was stereotyped as more left-wing than she was in reality.

With regard to foreign policy, right-wing circles attempted to frame her as weak and not in command of her portfolio. It was argued that the major decisions and the perceived national “victory” in Bucharest over FYROM were Karamanlis' and Bakoyannis tried to sabotage them. Her credentials were questioned and foreign policy was even described as her “Achilles’ heel.” 232 Her policy views were viewed as a projection of the State

Department’s agenda, on a range of topics from the Annan plan for Cyprus to her opposition to Karamanlis’ geo-strategic maneuvers toward Moscow with the agreement for the construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupoli pipeline.233 In a nutshell, her critics attempted to present her as too “yielding,” with positions indistinguishable from the leader of PASOK, George Papandreou, who was also viewed as blindly pro-American, reinforcing notions of a bi-partisan anti-Greek elite conspiracy that would sell-out Greece and would turn the country into a protectorate.234 With regard to the economy, things are a little more complex since traditional Left-Right distinctions between state intervention

232 Delastik, Yorgos. 2009. “The Prospect of Victory for Dora Fades Away.” [in Greek]. To Ethnos, November 10. Accessed May 10, 2014 http://www.ethnos.gr/article.asp?catid=22792&subid=2&pubid=8122872 233 2009. “Bakoyannis Polarizes the Election.” [in Greek]. Proto Thema, November 11. Accessed May 10, 2014 http://www.protothema.gr/article/50941/polonei-to-esokommatiko-klima-h-k-mpakogiannh/ 234 Giannaras, Christos. “The “Realist” and the “Nationalist.” [in Greek] Kathimerini, November 11. Accessed May 2, 2014 http://www.kathimerini.gr/717510/opinion/epikairothta/arxeio-monimes-sthles/h- realistria-kai-o-e8nikisths

97 and laissez-faire capitalism are less straightforward in the Greek case, where the public sector has been viewed as an instrument of a patronage system and clientelistic relationships.235 But along the lines of the realpolitik political tradition of Mitsotakismos, which advocated for privatizations and opening of restricted professions, Bakoyannis was viewed clearly as not embodying this Greek sui generis version of economic populism.

Furthermore, she was associated with more progressive positions on issues like separation of church and state236 and civil unions for same-sex couples.237 That trifecta of anti-economic populism, compromised approach to foreign policy issues, and social liberalism does not necessarily imply that Bakoyannis was construed as more left-wing but that she was framed as a member of a political elite, positioned outside the party mainstream, therefore distancing her from the average voter and likely decreasing her support in the polls.

4.6 Quantitative and Qualitative Coverage of Bakoyannis

In terms of visibility, Bakoyannis not only did not suffer from gender bias; in fact, she received significantly more coverage than her main opponent, Samaras (p<.05) and the second-tiers candidates, Psomiadis and Avramopoulos (p<.001). More specifically, as shown in table four, Bakoyannis was mentioned in 35.8 percent of the sample (1,714 paragraphs), Samaras in 33.5 percent (1,602 paragraphs), Psomiadis in 10.1 percent (481

235 Charalambis, Dimitris. 1989. Clientelist Linkages and Populism: Extra-Institutional Consensus Formation in the Greek Political System. [in Greek] Athens: Exantas. 302-24. 236 2005. “Dora Asks for Bold Changes.” [in Greek]. To Ethnos, December 27. Accessed May 11, 2014 http://www.ethnos.gr/article.asp?catid=22767&subid=2&pubid=22298 237 2009. “Former Members of Intra-Party Grouping Agree to Disagree.” [in Greek]. Kathimerini, November 18. Accessed May 10, 2014 http://www.kathimerini.gr/376606/article/epikairothta/politikh/symfwnhsan-oti-diafwnoyn-oi-prwhn- loxagoi

98 paragraphs) and Avramopoulos in 19.9 percent (952 paragraphs). This finding does not come as a surprise since Bakoyannis entered the race as the clear front-runner, as reflected in public opinion polls and media narratives about the prowess of her campaign.

Bakoyannis also appeared more often in the headlines and bylines of the examined articles than her male counterparts, though the difference with Samaras was not statistically significant. Table five shows that she appeared in 157 headlines and bylines

(19.4 percent) compared to 145 (17.9 percent) for Samaras, 39 (4.81 percent) for

Psomiadis, and 78 (9.62 percent) for Avramopoulos. Again, the findings are in keeping with her position in the opinion polls during the first month of the campaign as the overwhelming favorite and during the second month as one of the two strongest candidates.

Bakoyannis did not also experience any bias with regard to the type of coverage she received. Though the literature discusses how women candidates receive different coverage than men candidates, that was not the case in the Greek context. She received slightly more substantive issue coverage, though not statistically significant, than

Samaras, more than Psomiadis and slightly less than Avramopoulos. The latter can be explained based on the fact that Avramopoulos opened up the conversation about changing the process for the election of the new party leader, therefore his ideas about a primary race in which all party members would participate as well as citizens who would be willing to become members on election day, received extensive media attention. The overwhelming coverage all candidates received focused on campaign activities.

99 Bakoyannis and Samaras received equal horse-race coverage, focusing on the game aspects of the campaign with estimations of who is winning or losing. Defying the literature yet again, it was not the woman candidate who was subjected to discussion of her viability but another man candidate, Psomiadis. Following Avramopoulos’ dropping out of the race, Psomiadis experienced a surge in coverage focusing on the quixotic nature of his bid since it was clear that this was a race for two and increased speculation that he might drop out of the race and cast his force behind Samaras or Bakoyannis, though he was insisting that he would stay in until the end, as he did.

Thus far, Bakoyannis fared better than other women in politics in relation to the quantity and quality of coverage. Reaching parity in issue coverage is particularly important since it enables the audience to see that a candidate has substantive ideas and positions. A breakdown of the issue coverage into policy areas and other issues salient in the particular campaign might give us a better understanding of how beneficial or not this type of coverage might have been for the candidate. The top issues in the substantive coverage of Bakoyannis were the following: process for the selection of the new party leader (36.5 percent), criticism of PASOK’s government (19.3 percent), foreign policy

(16 percent), ideology and renewal of the party (13.9 percent), and the economy (6.6 percent). On the other hand, the ranking of the top issues for Samaras is slightly different: process for the selection of the new party leader (34.9 percent), ideology and renewal of the party (21.4 percent), the economy (15.8 percent), foreign policy (11.6 percent), and criticism of PASOK’s government (8.8 percent).

100 Both Bakoyannis’ and Samaras’ positions for the process of the election of the party leader received the lion’s share of their issue coverage. During the first month of the campaign, it was the main topic of discussion raising criticism from the press about the ability of the candidates to talk in a substantive way about the real issues and stop navel- gazing. However, that focus on the process might have been more detrimental for

Bakoyannis than Samaras since she was successfully framed by her opponents as opposed to giving a voice to the party base in order to secure a quick and smooth victory.

Bakoyannis’ attacks on Papandreou’s government might have helped her re-affirm the leadership profile that we discussed earlier since she was viewed as the best choice for

ND to defeat PASOK in the next scheduled general election.

But as it was becoming increasingly clear that change was the underlying narrative of the campaign, Bakoyannis’ attacks on the government probably cast her in a politics-as-usual light. Samaras’ coverage on the other hand was more on the change wavelength, articulating ideas about the future and the ideological direction of the party and less attacking Papandreou. One unexpected finding was that Samaras’ economic positions received more than two times the coverage Bakoyannis received, and that seems consequential given that this period marked the outset of the Greek economic crisis. It is also surprising because the last time Samaras served as the Economy Minister was in

1989. On the contrary, Bakoyannis’ recent tenure as Minister of Foreign Affairs can provide an explanation for the slightly more coverage she received on the issue. What remains difficult to distinguish is the extent to which the issues the candidates were associated with reflected their own messages and policy priorities or media selection

101 processes and biases were driving the trend. Additional research is required to examine potential distortion effects between candidate communications and media coverage.

102 Table 4: Quantity of Coverage (Unit of Analysis: Paragraph) Dora Antonis Panagiotis Dimitris Bakoyannis Samaras Difference Psomiadis Difference Avramopoulos Difference n % n % % n % % n % % Paragraphs 1714 35.8 1602 33.5 2.3* 481 10.1 25.7*** 952 19.9 15.9*** Total 4786 4786 4786 4786 *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

Table 5: Quantity of Coverage (Unit of Analysis: Headline/Byline) Dora Antonis Panagiotis Dimitris Bakoyannis Samaras Difference Psomiadis Difference Avramopoulos Difference n % n % % n % % n % % Headlines 157 19.4 145 17.9 1.5 39 4.8 14.6*** 78 9.6 9.8*** Total 811 811 811 811 *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

Table 6: Type of Coverage (Unit of Analysis: Paragraph) Dora Antonis Panagiotis Dimitris Bakoyannis Samaras Difference Psomiadis Difference Avramopoulos Difference n % n % % n % % n % % Issue 244 14.2 215 13.4 0.8 50 10.4 3.8* 152 16.0 -1.8 Event 1202 70.1 1151 71.9 -1.8 326 67.8 2.3 619 65.0 5.1** Horse-Race 159 9.3 155 9.7 -0.4 88 18.3 -9.0*** 69 7.3 2.0 Name 109 6.4 81 5.1 1.3 17 3.5 2.9* 112 11.8 -5.4***

Total 1714 1602 481 952 *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

103

Figure 5: Breakdown of Issue Coverage for Bakoyannis Figure 6: Breakdown of Issue Coverage for Samaras Breakdown of Issue Coverage Breakdown of Issue Coverage Bakoyannis Samaras

5% Process Process 6% Ideology Ideology 0% 0% 9% Economy 19% Economy 36% 35% Education 1% Education 12% 1% Foreign Policy Foreign Policy 1% Culture 16% Environment 16% Environment 14% Gender 7% 21% Attack Govt Attack Govt 1% Other

104 Finally, with regard to the tone of the coverage Bakoyannis also defied the expectations of the literature and did not suffer from overt bias. An outright majority, 554 out of 621

(89.2 percent), of the articles in which Bakoyannis was mentioned were written from a neutral point of view, while only 12 (1.9 percent) and 55 (8.9 percent) had a positive or negative tone respectively. A similar trend was observed in the sample for her men competitors: for Samaras, 515 out 568 articles (90.7 percent) were neutral, 14 (2.5 percent) positive and 39 (6.9 percent) negative; for Psomiadis, 238 out of 265 (89.8 percent) were neutral, two (0.8 percent) positive and 25 (9.4 percent) negative; and for

Avramopoulos 400 out of 446 (89.7 percent) were neutral, six (1.4 percent) positive and

40 (9 percent) negative. This pattern is likely the result of downward bias in the sample since the selected sources, especially Kathimerini and To Vima are points of reference for

Greek journalism and operate under high journalistic standards.

While considering the article as the unit of analysis permitted exploration of the bias of the source, an analysis of each separate paragraph was considered necessary in order to account for the intrinsic value of the events covered and other potential sources of bias.

For example, coding the tone of an article that contained information about a candidate surging in the polls as positive might have led to erroneous extrapolation of an overall favorable treatment of the candidate. Similarly, an article giving platform to a group to attack a candidate would raise questions about whether its proper coding should have been neutral (the tone of the source/journalist) or negative (the tone of the source in specific paragraphs).

105 The differences found as a result of the analysis of the tone of each separate paragraph do not justify any claim of bias against Bakoyannis. Statistically significant differences emerged not between Bakoyannis and Samaras but between the top-tier candidates

(Bakoyannis, Samaras) and the second-tier (Psomiadis, Avramopoulos). For Bakoyannis

15 percent of the articles had a positive tone, 17 percent negative and an overwhelming

68 percent neutral. The breakdown of the tone of each paragraph for Samaras was almost identical. However, Psomiadis and Avramopoulos received significantly less positive coverage than the front-runners who were leading the polls and gaining endorsements, generating positive stories.

No overt bias was observed in the headlines and the bylines in which the candidates appeared. Again, the difference seemed to originate from the status of the candidates rather their gender. 13 percent of the headlines for Bakoyannis and 14.5 percent for

Samaras were positive; 9 percent and 5.5 percent respectively were negative, and almost eight in ten were neutral for both. Psomiadis and Avramopoulos did not receive any positive headlines at all. A closer evaluation of the headlines for Bakoyannis and Samaras reveals that though the ones with positive tone were intrinsically positive focusing almost exclusively on endorsements and opinion poll status (“Spiliotopoulos Chose Dora”,

“Polydoras Supports Dora”, “Dora Bakoyannis Leads GPO Poll”, “Samaras Leads by

4.9”, “Samaras Leads Metron Analysis Poll”, “Avramopoulos Endorsed Samaras”) the negative headlines for Bakoyannis entailed detrimental personal evaluations (“Mini coup from Dora Bakoyannis”, “Samaras against Dora: ‘high ethical standards and integrity are preconditions for a politician”, “Dora Turned Our Diplomats Into Spies for Aegean

106 Airlines”) something that was not the case for Samaras. It is worth noting that 64 percent of the negative headlines for Bakoyannis originated from Proto Thema, a source whose owner, Themos Anastasiadis, had a long history of making discrediting remarks about

Bakoyannis in public.

107 Table 7: Tone of Coverage (Unit of Analysis: Article) Dora Antonis Panagiotis Dimitris Bakoyannis Samaras Difference Psomiadis Difference Avramopoulos Difference n % n % % n % % n % % Positive 12 1.9 14 2.5 -0.6 2 0.8 1.1 6 1.4 0.5 Negative 55 8.9 39 6.9 2.0 25 9.4 -0.5 40 9.0 -0.1 Neutral 554 89.2 515 90.7 -1.5 238 89.8 -0.6 400 89.7 -0.5

Total 621 568 265 446

*p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

Table 8: Tone of Coverage (Unit of Analysis: Paragraph) Dora Antonis Panagiotis Dimitris Bakoyannis Samaras Difference Psomiadis Difference Avramopoulos Difference n % n % % n % % n % % Positive 255 14.9 214 13.4 1.5 11 2.3 12.6*** 62 6.5 8.4*** Negative 296 17.3 280 17.5 -0.2 88 18.3 -1.0 192 20.2 -2.9 Neutral 1163 67.9 1108 69.2 -1.3 382 79.4 -11.5*** 698 73.3 -5.4**

Total 1714 1602 481 952

*p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

108 Table 9: Tone of Coverage (Unit of Analysis: Headline/Byline) Dora Antonis Panagiotis Dimitris Bakoyannis Samaras Difference Psomiadis Difference Avramopoulos Difference n % n % % n % % n % % Positive 20 12.7 21 14.5 -1.8 0 0.0 12.7* 1 1.3 11.4** Negative 14 8.9 8 5.5 3.4 3 7.7 1.2 11 14.1 -5.2 Neutral 123 78.3 116 80.0 -1.7 36 92.3 -14.0* 66 84.6 -6.3

Total 157 145 39 78

*p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

Table 10: Reference to Candidates’ Appearances Dora Antonis Panagiotis Dimitris Bakoyannis Samaras Difference Psomiadis Difference Avramopoulos Difference n % n % % n % % n % % Appearance 4 0.6 1 0.2 0.4 0 0.0 0.6 2 0.5 0.1 Total 621 568 265 446 *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

109 4.7 Gendered Frames

4.7.1 Appearance

Covering a woman candidate’s physicality has been shown to be particularly detrimental both from a philosophical standpoint as it is a sexist, dehumanizing practice and because it bears political consequences since it trivializes the candidate and might reinforce ideas about women being preoccupied with their hairstyles and attire; therefore, they are not to be taken seriously as legitimate political actors.

Two anecdotes, within the Greek context, highlight the double-standards women face and the media preoccupation with how women look and what they wear. In the aftermath of the debate of the political leaders for the parliamentary election of 2009, Aleka Papariga, the Secretary General of the Greek Communist Party, received extensive media coverage of the heart pendant necklace she was wearing. 238 It is difficult to hypothesize that

Papariga, a hard-line communist, was seeking that kind of attention or that she was benefited in any way by that scrutiny in her efforts to drive her political message home. A second example occurred during the 2009 swearing in ceremony of Papandreou’s government. One of the new faces of the cabinet was Tina Birbili, a political outsider who was recruited by Papandreou to assume the portfolio of Environment and Public

Works. Birbili showed up at the Presidential Mansion for the inauguration wearing athletic shoes and sporting a casual backpack, a choice consistent with her background in

238 2012. “Aleka’s Weakness for Heart Pendant Necklaces.” Star.gr, May 6. Accessed May 10, 2014 http://www.star.gr/Pages/Parapolitika.aspx?art=103317&artTitle=i_adynamia_tis_alekas_sta_mentagionka rdoules

110 environmental activism and the rejection of formalities, but she was mercilessly ridiculed, almost bullied by the media, for not living up to the circumstances.239

It is a hopeful sign that this kind of treatment was almost entirely absent from our sample, with only a few observations about the candidates’ appearances -- four for Bakoyannis, one for Samaras, and two for Avramopoulos. These instances provided mainly neutral descriptions as in the following example from To Vima, “Bakoyannis, who was dressed in a blue pantsuit and white t-shirt, a departure from her favorite red color of the last days, sweated many times.”240 However, it is impossible to draw broader conclusions about the ways women are portrayed in the Greek press, since the examined sources operate under higher standards something that is not necessarily the case for the many tabloid papers. Also, it is safe to assume that Bakoyannis, an extremely seasoned politician, was aware of these media routines and she was consistently sporting a specific style knowing that any stylistic change or bold color choice might have generated unsolicited attention.

However, Bakoyannis’ appearance became part of the campaign discourse since the newspaper Veto published a misogynistic libel, entitled “Our national widow without her makeup” 241 employing a pseudo-psychological lens in order to analyze how deeply unattractive and insecure Bakoyannis is and that she is seeking power to compensate for

239 Chasapopoulos, Nikos. 2009. “The Red Ties, the Pantsuits, and the Stress of the New Ministers.” [in Greek] To Vima, October 8. Accessed May 10, 2014 http://www.tovima.gr/politics/article/?aid=292667&wordsinarticle=μπιρμπίλη 240 Ravanos, Aris. 2009. “Dora Bakoyannis ‘I Never Abandoned the Party, I Was Always Here.” To Vima, November 15. Accessed May 11, 2014 http://www.tovima.gr/politics/article/?aid=299353&wordsinarticle=μπακογιάννη 241 2009. “Dora and Venizelos Sue the Newspaper ‘Veto’ for Defamation.” Zougla.gr, November 15. Accessed May 10, 2014 http://www.zougla.gr/politiki/article/ntora-ke-venizelos-minioun-to-veto

111 her wounded self. The anonymous writer went to such despicable lengths as to argue that when Bakoyannis looks in the mirror she basically sees her father in drag and that she is antagonizing her daughter for the attention of men. The article was widely circulated and became a major news story triggering an immediate reaction from Bakoyannis who sued the paper. Though the extremity of this misogyny was cartoonishly grotesque, arguing that Bakoyannis was wielding power to win over male attention while Samaras and

Avramopoulos were the sought-after lovers that she could never get, this narrative implies that Bakoyannis had already been defeated and rejected at the most personal, visceral level, paving the way for her eventual political defeat.

4.7.2 First Name

Another way media undermine women’s political campaigns is by choosing to refer to them by their first name while they refer to the male candidates using their last name. The frame is detrimental to aspiring women executives since it implies familiarity and warmth as opposed to gravitas and authority. Indeed, the trend was manifested very clearly in the

Greek case. In the sample examined, Bakoyannis was referred to as Dora 6 percent of the times she was mentioned, a statistically significant finding approximately three times higher than Samaras, Psomiadis, and Avramopoulos. This informal way of addressing her was even more pronounced in the headlines and bylines where Bakoyannis was referred to only by her first name 19 percent of the time. The contrast with her male counterparts is even more striking since they were never referred to in any headline by their first names.

112 Bakoyannis is not the only politician who has experienced this phenomenon. Aleka

Papariga of the Greek Communist Party has come to be known as Aleka and is addressed that way by voters and media alike, though as a leader of a far-left party she never had a viable chance to contest the premiership. In the past years, George Papandreou has been referred to as “Giorgakis” and Kostas Karamanlis “Kostakis” not only to differentiate them from their relatives and towering figures of Greek politics, Andreas Papandreou and

Kostantinos Karamanlis respectively, but also as a way to infantilize them, diminish their authority, and convey the impression that they do not measure up to the stature of their ancestors.

An important question is whether Bakoyannis encouraged the use of her first name.

Based on the campaign literature available on her website covering four elections (2002 election for the Mayoralty of Athens, 2007 and 2009 general elections, and the 2009 campaign for the leadership of Nea Dimokratia) in only one case she marketed herself as

Dora.242 Given that journalists tend to refer to male candidates more formally even when they campaign with their first name only, I compare Bakoyannis with another well- known politician of Nea Dimokratia, former Minister of Education Aris Spiliotopoulos.

Spiliotopoulos seemed to encourage the use of his first name, “Aris” and the domain name of his website, e-aris.gr, probably reflected that choice. Controlling for candidate self-representation, Bakoyannis was still significantly more likely to be addressed by her first name only, though the difference between Bakoyannis and Spiliotopoulos was considerably narrower than the one observed between her and her male counterparts in

242 Dora Bakoyannis’ Campaigns. http://www.dorabakoyannis.gr/db/gr/30/kampanies.html

113 the race, suggesting that the marketing of the candidate is to a certain extent a relevant variable in the Greek context.

114 Table 11: Forms of Address (Unit of Analysis: Article) Dora Antonis Panagiotis Dimitris Bakoyannis Samaras Difference Psomiadis Difference Avramopoulos Difference n % n % % n % % n % % First 125 6.0 41 2.0 4.0*** 6 1.3 4.7*** 19 1.7 4.3*** First/Last 728 34.7 802 39.7 -5.0 267 56.7 -22.0*** 493 44.6 -9.9*** Last 1119 53.3 1048 51.9 1.4 163 34.6 18.7*** 532 48.1 5.2*** Other 127 6.1 128 6.3 -0.2 35 7.4 -1.3*** 61 5.5 0.6***

Total 2099 2019 471 1105 *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

Table 12: Forms of Address (Unit of Analysis: Headline/Byline) Dora Antonis Panagiotis Dimitris Bakoyannis Samaras Difference Psomiadis Difference Avramopoulos Difference n % n % % n % % n % % First 30 19.1 0 0.0 19.1*** 0 0.0 19.1** 0 0.0 19.1*** First/Last 73 46.5 61 42.1 4.4 22 56.4 -9.9 36 46.2 0.3 Last 54 34.4 81 55.9 -21.5** 17 43.6 -9.2 42 53.9 -19.5** Other 0 0.0 3 2.1 -2.1 0 0.0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0

Total 157 145 39 78 *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

115 Table 13: Forms of Address – Control for Candidate Self-Representation (Unit of Analysis: Article) Dora Aris Bakoyannis Spiliotopoulos Difference n % n % % First 125 6.0 20 5.3 0.7 *** First/Last 728 34.7 178 47.0 -12.3*** Last 1119 53.3 162 42.7 10.6*** Other 127 6.1 19 5.0 1.1***

Total 2099 379 *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

Table 14: References to Candidates’ Families Dora Antonis Panagiotis Dimitris Bakoyannis Samaras Difference Psomiadis Difference Avramopoulos Difference n % n % % n % % n % % Family 51 8.2 16 2.8 5.4*** 2 0.8 7.4*** 3 0.7 7.5*** Total 621 568 265 446 *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

116

4.7.3 Family

Discussions about a woman candidate’s familial arrangements might be detrimental since they evoke expectations about traditional gender roles and gendered division of labor at home. On the other hand, a man candidate who is not expected to take up the majority of care work in the household might benefit from the presence of his family on the campaign trail and the projection of a picture-perfect heteronormativity. It is worth noting that within the Greek context the American phenomenon of featuring spouses and offsprings in campaign literature has not been mainstreamed. Within our sample, instances in which family members were mentioned were the exception rather than the norm. However, Bakoyannis received significantly more mentions of her family (8.2 percent) as opposed to Samaras, Psomiadis, and Avramopoulos (2.8 percent, 0.8 percent,

0.7 percent respectively) though she was not framed as a mother or a wife but as

Mitstotakis’ daughter.

Her relationship to her father was used to reverberate a narrative of dynastic privilege. In other words, her political career was handed to her in order to become the standard-bearer of the family name. First, on feminist grounds, such assertions trivialize her own achievements and deprive her of agency. A comparative analysis of the ways Kostas

Karamanlis and George Papandreou were framed in relation to their ancestors would certainly be helpful in order to illustrate whether Bakoyannis was penalized more as a woman. The focus on the father-daughter relationship, had it been accompanied by a discussion about the role of political families in Greek politics, would have been a fair

117 point. However, a reference to her father without additional historical and political context is likely to be a gendered choice underpinned by assumptions that as a woman she could not question her father’s authority, escape from his influence, and assert her individuality. Bakoyannis engaged this point stating that while she is proud of her family she is also proud of her autonomous political career and wants to be judged solely on the basis of the latter.243

4.7.4 First Woman

The first woman frame can be detrimental since it erases women’s history and cast women contenders as political novelties; however, in an environment receptive to change, by virtue of her gender a woman can symbolically embody that change. First, it is worth mentioning that no such discussion occurred during the course of the campaign.

In only five articles, less than one percent of the overall sample, there was a reference to

Bakoyannis’ gender but without providing nuance and perspective about issues of descriptive and substantive representation and what it would mean for a woman to attain the leadership of a major political party. This certainly seems an omission since based on the evidence presented earlier there were patriarchal vestiges in the Greek body politic that rendered it hostile to the prospect of a woman executive rising to the top.

The media silence on gender might have disadvantaged Bakoyannis’ political strategy by limiting her options to signify change. The availability of tools to navigate the change/continuity double-bind was all the more important since she was caught in a lose-

243 Dora Bakoyanni’s Speech to Women Party Members of ND.” 2009, November 18. Accessed March 30, 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C8jDzF8z5A

118 lose scenario: had she criticized Karamalis she would have reinforced the narrative that she was sabotaging him while she was working for him and conceptions of manipulative femininity as manifested in the discussion about her role in convincing him to call a snap election that the party seemed doomed to lose. But by not criticizing Karamanlis and his days in power she couldn’t embody change and she was viewed as part of the problem and a member of the party elite associated with scandals and failure to deliver on campaign promises. That opened the way for Samaras to emerge from the low-key portfolio of Culture and after years in the political wilderness since the failure of his political project, Politiki Anoiksi, in the 90s, and usurp the mantle of change that propelled him to victory.

4.7.5 Emotions

Displays of emotion on the campaign trail create another Catch-22 for women in politics: should they conform to stereotypical expectations about their compassionate and nurturing nature, women candidates risk being ridiculed for not being “man enough” for the job. Should they cling to a masculinist persona, devoid of emotion, they risk being penalized for transgressing gender norms about proper womanhood. The latter was the case for Bakoyannis. Throughout the years, she had managed to exhibit the instrumental attributes that are associated with executive leadership and according to surveys presented earlier she was even outperforming the men in the race in this area. However, as a corollary, she was seen as not possessing stereotypically feminine traits. Any display of emotion was judged as disingenuous and calculated and her “pinned smile” was a

119 talking point for her opponents.244 No stories were written about how the construction of her political persona might have been a necessity in response to pervasive gender stereotypes as opposed to an intrinsic character flaw. In a different context, her daughter,

Alexia, would address this criticism of her mother sharing with the audience how

Bakoyannis mourned the loss of her husband after his assassination and how she re- learned to smile at the height of a personal tragedy. 245 Stories like this might have benefited Bakoyannis during the course of the campaign and humanized her but it is worth remembering the gendered constructs that limit the available choices for women candidates.

244 Chatzigeorgiou, Aris. 2009. “Headstone.” [in Greek]. Eleftherotypia, December 1. Accessed May 10, 2014 http://www.enet.gr/?i=news.el.article&id=107367 245 Bakoyannis, Alexia P. 2010. “From a Personal Standpoint.” [in Greek]. Protagon, May 7. Accessed May 10, 2014 http://www.protagon.gr/?i=protagon.el.article&id=2168

120 Chapter 5: Conclusions

5.1 Summary

The examination of gender stereotypes in public perceptions of Dora Bakoyannis and the media coverage she received paints a complex picture about the role gender played in the unfolding and final outcome of the 2009 primary election for the leadership of Nea

Dimokratia. First, Bakoyannis managed to navigate gender stereotyping by projecting the stereotypical masculine traits of a “good” party leader and establishing her authority and command of a “hard” policy area. However, it seems that she was penalized for being

“too masculine” and was accused of lacking the empathetic feminine nature that would enable her to relate to party voters and connect at a personal level with her audience. In that sense, Bakoyannis was trapped in the masculinity/femininity double-bind and experienced the inflexibility of performing gender in public. Furthermore, her foreign policy gravitas was questioned on the grounds that she was either executing Karamanlis’ plan and therefore did not deserve any credit for the successes, or by casting her as too yielding to the State Department’s agenda, therefore she could not be trusted to defend the interests of the nation.

The media coverage she received marked a departure from many expectations of the literature: Bakoyannis was not just equally visible but more visible than her male counterparts with regard to the number of paragraphs she received and her name appearance in the headlines and bylines. The quantitative aspects of her coverage reflected her status on the race and did not question her initial lead in the polls. However,

121 it was the quality of coverage that might have proved detrimental. First, the negative tone of the headlines in which she was featured reflected evaluation biases and damaging personal criticism, in sharp contrast to the negative tone for Samaras, which was the result of the intrinsic values of the reported events. Second, the issue coverage she received was centered on themes and policy areas that were seen as disadvantageous to her (process for the selection of the new party leader, foreign policy) while Samaras was associated with areas that helped him drive his message home (ideas for the renewal of the party and ideology, economy).

Gendered frames were applied to Bakoyannis’ case: She was consistently referred to more informally than the men in the race, something that might have worked to undermine her authority. The focus on her politically prominent family did not cast her in traditional womanhood light, but denied her the agency to be herself as opposed to

Mitsotakis’ daughter.

The absence of the first woman frame, which usually casts women as outsiders, was most likely to have harmed rather than helped Bakoyannis. Since she had already established her experience credentials and was not risked to be seen as a novelty, a discussion about the groundbreaking nature of her candidacy could have provided alternative options to represent change, since for strategic considerations she had opted to run on a message of continuity to Karamanlis’ tradition. Second, the silence on Bakoyannis’ gender did not enable any meaningful discussion about gender and power, entrenched sexism and the role of women in politics. That being said, these considerations transcend the singularity

122 of Bakoyannis’ candidacy and bear broader consequences for gender equality in the country. The space that did not open up by calling attention to the gendered aspects of running for office will be space that the next woman vying for executive post will have to negotiate anew.

5.2 Limitations and Directions for Future Research

At this point, it is important to address the limitations of this study. First, with regard to the sample it is likely that the results might downplay gender biases since two of the three analyzed sources, Kathimerini and To Vima, offer very professional and high-brow news products; therefore, they might be less likely to give platform to sexist views and gendered practices. Further research focusing on less professionalized media outlets could provide better insights into the gendered barriers women in politics face.

Second, the sample offers a diversity of ideological viewpoints and that might offer a broader picture but also limits the influence of the examined sources on the final outcome of the race for the leadership of Nea Dimokratia. The phenomenon of the partisan press is well documented in Greece,246 therefore additional research focusing exclusively on the partisan media outlets aligned with the center-right party might complement and add new perspectives to the story of Dora Bakoyannis’ 2009 campaign.

A third consideration pertains to the question of whether the examined sources reported what was happening and was communicated by the candidates or engaged in selection

246 Komninos, Maria. 2001. From Agora to the Spectacle: the Transformation of the Public Sphere in Greece, 1950-2000. Athens: Papazisis. 70-81, 161-66.

123 processes and biases that may have altered its course. An analysis of candidate communications, press releases, campaign speeches, media appearances, campaign literature, and online content in comparison with its coverage in the press will help us better grasp the role the media played in the unfolding of the election.

Furthermore, the novelty of open primaries ushers in uncharted political territory and that begets further research. While parliamentary systems with party-contested elections might mitigate the effects of gendered stereotypes for women in politics and present a more level playing field than the one encountered by women in candidate-focused presidential systems, candidate-centric open primaries might contribute to an ongoing process of “presidentialization” of parliamentary systems. 247 Had Nea Dimokratia clinged to a party convention to elect its new leader, Bakoyannis would have most likely won and would be a step closer to becoming the first woman prime minister of Greece.

The changing dynamic of party leader selection processes requires constant monitoring and updated frameworks for the analysis of women’s advancement in politics.

5.3 “Women Are Never Front-Runners”

While acknowledging the limitations is of particular importance in order to highlight directions for further research, the contributions of this study on gender and executive power in Greece are also equally important. As the first gendered analysis of Dora

Bakoyannis’ campaign, this research helped highlight the ways gender was a relevant variable in framing her candidacy and limiting her strategic choices. Echoing Gloria

247 Sykes, Patricia Lee. 2009. “Incomplete Empowerment: Female Cabinet Ministers in Anglo-American Systems.” In Dispersed Democratic Leadership: Origins, Dynamics and Implications edited by John Kane, Haig Patapan, and Paul t’ Hart. New York: Oxford University Press.

124 Steinem’s “Women Are Never Front-Runners” op-ed at The New York Times, some aspects of Bakoyannis’ campaign demonstrated that there was “no ‘right’ way to be a woman in public power.”248

Paradoxical as it may sound, since Bakoyannis was the front-runner during the first-half of the campaign, her inevitability seemed to be on borrowed time and lasted until the opposition to her coalesced around a single opponent. When Samaras emerged as the challenger to take on Bakoyannis, bolstered by the endorsement of Avramopoulos, her lead evaporated and the negative narratives about Bakoyannis’ inability to represent change and embody what the party voters were seeking at the moment were consolidated.

Bakoyannis labored to prove that she had what it takes to win and lead, but her hubris seemed to be that she aspired to the top position in the first place.

The data and analysis presented add layers and nuance to the understanding of the 2009 leadership contest, offer material for discussion, and hopefully will contribute to opening up space for future efforts to shatter the highest, hardest glass ceiling in Greek politics.

248 Steinem, Gloria. 2008. “Women Are Never Front-Runners.” The New York Times, January 8. Accessed May 12, 2014 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/opinion/08steinem.html?_r=0

125 Appendices

Appendix A: Coding Protocol

Unit of analysis: Article

ARTICLE NUMBER 1,2,3,….

DATE 15.10; 07.11 etc.

DATE NUMBER 04.10 – 1 (first day of the campaign) 05.10 – 2 (second day of the campaign) 06.10 – 3 (third day of the campaign) …. 27.11 – 55 28.11 – 56 29.11 – 57 (last day of the campaign)

SOURCE Kathimerini = 1 Proto thema = 2 To Vima = 3

TITLE TO ΠΑΡΑΣΚΗΝΙΟ ΤΗΣ ΑΠΟΦΑΣΗΣ ΚΑΡΑΜΑΝΛΗ

WORDCOUNT E.g. 432 words

HEADREF Does the name of any candidate appear in the headline // byline? (If it appears in both Headline > Byline) Yes= 1 No = 2

HEADREF BAKO How is Dora Bakoyannis referred to in the headline / byline?

First name: Dora = 1 First & Last name: Dora Bakoyannis = 2 Last name: Bakoyannis = 3

126 Other (fmr. Minister of Foreign Affairs etc.) = 4

HEADREF BAKO OTHER Write in “other”…

HEADREF SAMA How is Antonis Samaras referred to in the headline / byline?

First name: Antonis = 1 First & Last name: Antonis Samaras = 2 Last name: Samaras = 3 Other (fmr. Minister of Culture etc.)= 4

HEADREF SAMA OTHER Write in “other”…

HEADREF PSOM How is Panagiotis Psomiadis referred to in the headline /byline?

First name: Panagiotis = 1 First & Last name: Panagiotis Psomiadis = 2 Last name: Psomiadis = 3 Other (Prefect etc.) = 4

HEADREF PSOM OTHER Write in “other”…

HEADREF AVRA How is Dimitris Avramopolous referred to in the headline / byline?

First name – Dimitris = 1 First & Last name – Dimitris Avramopoulos = 2 Last name – Avramopoulos = 3 Other (fmr. Minister of Health etc.) = 4

HEADREF AVRA OTHER Write in “other”…

BODY BAKO 1 How many times Dora Bakoyannis is referred to by her first name - Dora? None =0 One = 1 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc.

127

BODY BAKO 2 How many times Dora Bakoyannis is referred to by both her first and last name -- Dora Bakoyannis? None =0 One = 1 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc.

BODY BAKO 3 How many times Dora Bakoyannis is referred to by her last name only -- Bakoyannis? None =0 One = 1 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc.

BODY BAKO 4 How many times Dora Bakoyannis is referred to by a name other than above? (fmr. Minister of Foreign Affairs etc.) None =0 One = 1 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc.

BODY BAKO OTHER Write in “other”… (fmr. Minister of Foreign Affairs etc.)

BODY SAMA 1 How many times Antonis Samaras is referred to by his first name -- Antonis? None =0 One = 1 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc.

BODY SAMA 2 How many times Antonis Samaras is referred to by both his first and last name -- Antonis Samaras? None =0 One = 1 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc.

BODY SAMA 3 How many times Antonis Samaras is referred to by his last name -- Samaras? None =0 One = 1

128 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc.

BODY SAMA 4 How many times Antonis Samaras is referred to by a name other than above? (fmr. Minister of Culture etc.) None =0 One = 1 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc.

BODY SAMA OTHER Write in “other”… (fmr. Minister of Culture etc.)

BODY PSOM 1 How many times Panagiotis Psomiadis is referred to by his first name -- Panagiotis? None =0 One = 1 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc.

BODY PSOM 2 How many times Panagiotis Psomiadis is referred to by both his first and last name -- Panagiotis Psomiadis? None =0 One = 1 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc.

BODY PSOM 3 How many times Panagiotis Psomiadis is referred to by his last name -- Psomiadis? None =0 One = 1 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc.

BODY PSOM 4 How many times Panagiotis Psomiadis is referred to by a name other than above? (Prefect etc.) None =0 One = 1 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc.

BODY PSOM OTHER Write in “other”… (Prefect etc.)

129

BODY AVRA 1 How many times Dimitris Avramopoulos is referred to by his first name -- Dimitris? None =0 One = 1 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc.

BODY AVRA 2 How many times Dimitris Avramopoulos is referred to by both his first and last name -- Dimitris Avramopoulos? None =0 One = 1 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc.

BODY AVRA 3 How many times Dimitris Avramopoulos is referred to by his last name -- Avramopoulos? None =0 One = 1 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc.

BODY AVRA 4 How many times Dimitris Avramopoulos is referred to by a name other than above? (fmr. Minister of Health etc.) None =0 One = 1 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc.

BODY AVRA OTHER Write in “other”… (fmr. Minister of Health etc.)

APPEAR BAKO Are there references to Dora Bakoyannis’ appearance? Yes = 1 No = 2

APPEAR SAMA Are there references to Antonis Samaras’ appearance? Yes = 1 No = 2

130 APPEAR PSOM Are there references to Panagiotis Psomiadis’ appearance? Yes = 1 No = 2

APPEAR AVRA Are there references to Dimitris Avramopoulos’ appearance? Yes = 1 No = 2

FAM BAKO Are there references to Dora Bakoyannis’ family? Yes = 1 No = 2

FAM SAMA Are there references to Antonis Samaras’ family? Yes= 1 No=2

FAM PSOM Are there references to Panagiotis Psomiadis’ family? Yes= 1 No = 2

FAM AVRA Are there references to Dimitris Avramopoulos’ family? Yes = 1 No = 2

FIRST WOM Is the article referring to Dora Bakoyannis as the first woman seeking the nomination of Nea Dimokratia / potential first woman PM? Yes = 1 No = 2

TONE BAKO What is the tone of Dora Bakoyannis’ coverage? Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE SAMA What is the tone of Antonis Samaras’ coverage?

131 Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE PSOM What is the tone of Panagiotis Psomiadis’ coverage? Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE AVRA What is the tone of Dimitris Avramopoulos’ coverage? Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE HEADREF BAKO Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE HEADREF SAMA Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE HEADREF PSOM Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE HEADREF AVRA Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

BODY ARIS 1 How many times Aris Spiliotopoulos is referred to by his first name -- Aris? None =0 One = 1 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc.

132 BODY ARIS 2 How many times Aris Spiliotopoulos is referred to by both his first and last name – Aris Spiliotopoulos? None =0 One = 1 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc

BODY ARIS 3 How many times Aris Spiliotopoulos is referred to by his last name -- Spiliotopoulos? None =0 One = 1 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc

BODY ARIS 4 How many times Aris Spiliotopoulos is referred to by a name other than above? None =0 One = 1 Two = 2 Three = 3 etc

BODY ARIS OTHER Write in “other”…

133

Unit of Analysis: Paragraph

ARTICLE NUMBER 1,2,3,….

DATE 15.10; 07.11 etc.

DATE NUMBER 04.10 – 1 05.10 – 2 06.10 – 3 …. 27.11 – 55 28.11 – 56 29.11 – 57

SOURCE Kathimerini = 1 Proto thema = 2 To Vima = 3

PARAGRAPH NUMBER First = 1 Second = 2 Third = 3 etc.

WORDS PARAG E.g. 112 words

RELEVANCE PAR Is the paragraph relevant to the race for Nea Demokratia’s leadership? Yes = 1 No = 2

PARMEN BAKO Is Dora Bakoyannis mentioned in the paragraph? Yes = 1 No = 2

PARMEN SAMA Is Antonis Samaras mentioned in the paragraph? Yes = 1 No = 2

134 PARMEN PSOM Is Panagiotis Psomiadis mentioned in the paragraph? Yes = 1 No = 2

PARMEN AVRA Is Dimitris Avramopoulos mentioned in the paragraph? Yes = 1 No = 2

PARMEN ISSUE BAKO (1>2>3>4) What type of coverage is she receiving? Issue Coverage = 1 (substantive coverage on issues, policy positions, political platforms etc.) Event coverage = 2 (everything related to campaign activities) Horse-race coverage= 3 (position in the polls etc.) Name reference = 4

PARMEN ISSUE SAMA (1>2>3>4) What type of coverage is he receiving? Issue Coverage = 1 (substantive coverage on issues, policy positions, political platforms etc.) Event coverage = 2 (everything related to campaign activities) Horse-race coverage= 3 (position in the polls etc.) Name reference = 4

PARMEN ISSUE PSOM (1>2>3>4) What type of coverage is he receiving? Issue Coverage = 1 (substantive coverage on issues, policy positions, political platforms etc.) Event coverage = 2 (everything related to campaign activities) Horse-race coverage= 3 (position in the polls etc.) Name reference = 4

PARMEN ISSUE AVRA (1>2>3>4) What type of coverage is he receiving? Issue Coverage = 1 (substantive coverage on issues, policy positions, political platforms etc.) Event coverage = 2 (everything related to campaign activities) Horse-race coverage= 3 (position in the polls etc.) Name reference = 4

135

TONE PAR BAKO What is the tone of Dora Bakoyannis’ coverage in the paragraph? Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE PAR SAMA What is the tone of Antonis Samaras’ coverage in the paragraph? Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE PAR PSOM What is the tone of Panagiotis Psomiadis’ coverage in the paragraph? Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE PAR AVRA What is the tone of Dimitris Avramopoulos’ coverage in the paragraph? Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

ISSUE COV BAKO // SAMA // PSOM // AVRA If the candidate is receiving issue coverage, in which category does the issue fit more closely? 1. Process for the election of new leader 2. Economy, Employment, Investment and Infrastructure 3. Education 4. Health 5. Foreign policy // Security (Defense and Internal Order) 6. Culture / Civilization 7. Environment 8. Gender issues 9. Attack on the government 10. Ideology 11. Other

136 Appendix B: Inter-coder Reliability

TONE BAKO What is the tone of Dora Bakoyannis’ coverage? Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE SAMA What is the tone of Antonis Samaras’ coverage? Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE PSOM What is the tone of Panagiotis Psomiadis’ coverage? Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE AVRA What is the tone of Dimitris Avramopoulos’ coverage? Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE HEADREF BAKO Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE HEADREF SAMA Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE HEADREF PSOM Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE HEADREF AVRA Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

137

 PARAGRAPH: TYPE OF COVERAGE / TONE

PARMEN ISSUE BAKO (1>2>3>4) What type of coverage is Bakoyannis receiving? Issue Coverage = 1 (substantive coverage on issues, policy positions, political platforms etc.) Event coverage = 2 (everything related to campaign activities) Horse-race coverage= 3 (position in the polls etc.) Name reference = 4

PARMEN ISSUE SAMA (1>2>3>4) What type of coverage is Samaras receiving? Issue Coverage = 1 (substantive coverage on issues, policy positions, political platforms etc.) Event coverage = 2 (everything related to campaign activities) Horse-race coverage= 3 (position in the polls etc.) Name reference = 4

PARMEN ISSUE PSOM (1>2>3>4) What type of coverage is Psomiadis receiving? Issue Coverage = 1 (substantive coverage on issues, policy positions, political platforms etc.) Event coverage = 2 (everything related to campaign activities) Horse-race coverage= 3 (position in the polls etc.) Name reference = 4

PARMEN ISSUE AVRA (1>2>3>4) What type of coverage is Avramopoulos receiving? Issue Coverage = 1 (substantive coverage on issues, policy positions, political platforms etc.) Event coverage = 2 (everything related to campaign activities) Horse-race coverage= 3 (position in the polls etc.) Name reference = 4

138 TONE PAR BAKO What is the tone of Dora Bakoyannis’ coverage in the paragraph? Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE PAR SAMA What is the tone of Antonis Samaras’ coverage in the paragraph? Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE PAR PSOM What is the tone of Panagiotis Psomiadis’ coverage in the paragraph? Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

TONE PAR AVRA What is the tone of Dimitris Avramopoulos’ coverage in the paragraph? Positive = 1 Negative = -1 Neutral = 0

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