In this paper we propose a) an index for gender inclusiveness in cabinets of parliamentarian democracies, and b) an ideal type of cabinets as related to gender inclusiveness in their composition.
The lack of quantitative indicators that would consider more of the qualitative aspects of ministerial career represents a problem, whose solution would lead to more understanding and research on women in cabinets. Currently, the description of the presence of women in cabinet is made considering mostly the number of women in cabinets. There are two factors that are still not considered in these studies: the quality of the portfolios occupied by women, as well as the time they spend in those cabinets.
We propose a quantitative index for cabinet' gender inclusiveness, which considers these three aspects of the ministerial career: a) numbers of women in the cabinets, b) quality of the portfolios allocated to them and c) the tenure of ministers in cabinet.
This index leads to the creation of a typology of cabinets, as related to the presence of women in their composition. The four ideal-types of cabinets would be: 1) cabinets with token women-ministers, 2) cabinets with alibi women 3) cabinets with ‘thatcherite’ women-ministers and 4) gender-friendly cabinets.
Data on women in cabinets of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, for a 20 years period has been used in this exercise.
