1. By Sarah Angermeyer

2.  Over the course of this year we have learned
about the world and its history. As a part of
our studying we have also discussed the
effects that women had on a certain country
or time period. As a feminist I decided to
research women today, and I found an
alarming deficit in the amount of women
elected today.

3.  There are only 10 women presidents and 8
women prime ministers in the world today. 18
countries out of 195 have women in charge.
 Germany, Argentina , and Denmark all have
women in charge.
 There are roughly only 19 percent of women
holding seats on a parliament.

4.  Recently, Rwanda passed a quota for the
percent of women holding offices in
government. It is believed that because of
this new quota Rwanda was able to pass
Switzerland in the percent of women elected
in government.

5.  Because of the increase in the amount of women
participating in Rwanda’s government, the UN
has asked that quotas start becoming the norm.
 “I encourage countries to use quotas to expand
women’s participation in parliament. It is also
good to open public debate about the right of
women to take part in government and to hold
public office. Democracy grows stronger with
the full and equal participation of women,” said
Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of the UN
Entity for Gender Equality and the
Empowerment of Women.

6.  You might possibly be
thinking “What does this
have to do with me? I’m a US
citizen and Women have
been voting since 1920.”
 Well the US has never had a
woman president.
 The first woman in Congress
was Jeanette Rankin, 1917.
Since Jeanette there has only
been 277 women
representatives in the US.
Compared to the amount of
men, this is laughable.
Jeanette Rankin

7.  Of the seats in Congress only 16 percent are
women.
 The US is ranked at 78 for the total amount of
women serving terms.
 Considering all that women have
accomplished in America you would assume
that it would be higher.
 Women in other countries have advanced
farther.

8.  Angela Merkel is the
chancellor of Germany (2005-
)
 She has been in politics since
1990, when she became the
minister for Women and
Youth under Helmut Kohl.
 Merkel became the head of
her party in 2000. She ran in
2002, but lost.
 Merkel ran again in 2005, and
won.
 She was the first woman to
become chancellor since
Germany became a modern
nation in 1871.

9.  To learn more go to :
http://www.globalfundforwomen.org/what-
we-do/civic-a-political-
participation?gclid=CKOMqNXpqLACFcJxOg
odL0ftVQ
 Or : http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm

10.  Works Cited
 "Angela Merkel Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. Web. 30 May
2012. <http://www.biography.com/people/angela-merkel-9406424>.
 "Black Americans in Congress." Women in Congress. Web. 30 May 2012.
<http://womenincongress.house.gov/member-profiles/profile.html?intID=202>.
 "Global Fund for Women." Expanding Civic and Political Participation -. Web. 30
May 2012. <http://www.globalfundforwomen.org/what-we-do/civic-a-political-
participation?gclid=CKOMqNXpqLACFcJxOgodL0ftVQ>.
 "WCF Foundation." Women in Politics Statistics. Web. 30 May 2012.
<http://www.wcffoundation.org/pages/research/women-in-politics-
statistics.html>.
 "Women in Parliaments: World Classification." Women in Parliaments: World
Classification. Web. 30 May 2012. <http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm>.
 "Women in Politics, Around the World." Economix Blog. Web. 30 May 2012.
<http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/29/women-in-politics-around-the-
world/>.
 "Women in Politics." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation. Web. 30 May 2012.
<http://library.thinkquest.org/19269/Women_in_Politics.html>.
 "Women’ s Political Participation Must Be Accelerated through Quotas – UN
Official." UN News Center. UN, 02 Mar. 2012. Web. 30 May 2012.
<http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=41445>.