Women of power half a century of female presidents and prime ministers worldwide

When patterns break

Dynamics of change

World history

Complete overview

Biographies

Varied information

Plan of the book

One. Breakthrough on several continents

Sirimavo Bandaranaike: first woman in Ceylon

India's Èmpress' Indira Gandhi

Golda Meir takes charge

and Dalia Itzik follows

Dancer Isabel Peron takes over in Argentina

Friend of the Central African Republic's dictator: Elisabeth Domitien

Game of chance

Two. Women in politics: background, approaches, research

Glimpses back in time

The United Nations

Changing world

Political structures and actors

Three. Western industrial countries (I): women are able

in various ways

The world's first democracies

Margaret Thatcher: Conservative Iron Lady

Solitary swallows in Malta and Portugal: Agatha Barbara and Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo

Vigdis Finnbogadottir and Icelandic red stockings

Norway's M̀other', Gro Harlem Brundtland. Rising wave of feminism

Four. R̀oaring She-Tigers' in South Asia

Poor and populous South Asia

Benazir Bhutto: daughter of the East

Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh

Epilogue in India: Pratibha Patil

Chandrika Kumaratunga of Sri Lanka

Dynasties and violence

Five. Equilibrists in East Asia

Manifold island realms

Cory Aquino, the Philippines' number one

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the Philippines' number two

Megawati and Moslem men in Indonesia

When a dictator falls

Han Myung-sook: on her own merits in South Korea

Six. Machismo, marianismo and modernism in Latin America

Violeta Chamorro: Peace Dove in Nicaragua

Third wave of democratisation

Bolivian revolutionary: Lidia Gueiler Tejada

Janet Jagan: from Chicago to Guyana

Panama's ǹew dawn': Mireya Moscoso

Beatriz Merino: independent woman in Peru

Unlikely pioneer in Chile: Michelle Bachelet

Cristina Fernandez follows up in Argentina. Pink Wave in Costa Rica and Brazil: Laura Chinchilla and Dilma Rousseff

Behind a successful woman is a strong man

Seven. Lopsided democracies in the Caribbean

British heritage and male networks

Eugenia Charles: a Caribbean matriarch

Three Haitian women in the turmoil: Ertha Pascal-Trouillot, Claudette Werleigh and Michele Pierre-Louis

Portia Simpson-Miller: up and down in Jamaica

Kamla Persad-Bissessar in Trinidad and Tobago

Male-dominated democracy

Eight. B̀ig Chiefs' in sub-Saharan Africa

Ruth Perry ends Liberia's civil war

Authoritarian rule in poor countries

Explosion in Rwanda and Burundi: Agatha Uwlingiyimana and Sylvie Kinigi

Mame Madior Boye: change of elites in Senegal

Political squeeze in Sao Tome and Principe: Maria das Neves and Maria do Carmo Silveira

Luisa Diogo: assistant to the boss in Mozambique

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to the top in Liberia

Rose Rogombe, Gabon's master of ceremonies. Overshadowed by B̀ig Chiefs'

Nine. Eastern Bloc: from communism to capitalism

Liberation becomes oppression

Satellites and collapse

Croatia's Milka Planinc and Jadranka Kosor

S̀hock therapy' in the East

Lithuanian relay: Kazimiera Prunskiene and Dalia Grybauskaite

Sabine Bergmann-Pohl, the last head of East Germany

Polish compromise: Hanna Suchocka

Latvia's queen: Vaira Vike-Freiberga

Reneta Indzhova: Bulgarian episode

Rose Revolution with Nino Burjanadze

Yulia Tymoshenko: Ukraine's Orange Princess

C̀ommunism' in Moldova: Zinaida Greceanii

Iveta Radicova, sociologist in Slovakia

Patriarchy continues

No women at the top: Russia

Ten. Western industrial countries (II): womanpower and defeat

Irish surprise: Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese

Edith Cresson: caught in a French trap

Kim Campbell: an impossible task in Canada

Ambitious Turkish economist: Tansu Ciller. Women's top two in New Zealand: Jenny Shipley and Helen Clark

Switzerland lets women in: Ruth Dreifuss, Micheline Calmy-Rey and Doris Leuthard

Finland's three national leaders: Tarja Halonen, Anneli Jaatteenmaki and Mari Kiviniemi

Angela Merkel: the world's quiet leader

Johanna Siguroardottir rescues the Saga island

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard under attack

Breakers, walls and rising tide

Eleven. Where women came to power: summary of the regional chapters

Western countries

Eastern countries (former Eastern Bloc)

Latin America and the Caribbean

Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Where women did not go to the top

Twelve. When women made it to the top: overview, variation, trends

Remarkable and limited

Favourable conditions

Well-equipped women

Struggling upwards

More or less power

Women's leadership

Woman-friendly democracy