! “ Defending ! the ! Realm : ! The ! Appointment ! of ! Female ! Defense ! Ministers

Though the defense ministry has been a bastion of male power, a growing number of states have appointed women to this portfolio. What explains men’s dominance in these positions? Which factors predict women’s ascension to this post? With comprehensive cross-national data on women’s ministerial appointments in the post-Cold War era, we develop and test three sets of hypotheses concerning women’s access to the defense ministry. We show that women remain excluded when the portfolio’s remit reinforces traditional beliefs about the masculinity of the position, particularly in military dictatorships and states engaged in international conflict. By contrast, female defense ministers emerge when expectations about women’s role in politics have changed—i.e. in states with female chief executives and parliamentarians. Women are also first appointed to the post when its meaning diverges from traditional conceptions of the portfolio, particularly in countries concerned with peacekeeping and in former military states with left governments.