A warm welcome to the women in Biden’s cabinet
The Biden administration will cement its place in history for being the most diverse executive branch that the United States has ever seen. But what does this mean for the future of American policy?
Today’s briefing is by Adele Brawley (AB), a graduate student at the Max Bell School of Public Policy. Adele is passionate about creating change through effective policy and sustainable development. She is skilled in written and verbal communication, strategic analysis, and brand consulting with previous experience in public relations. Adele is a dual Canadian-American citizen. Write us at newsletterthebell@gmail.com
FOR ALL THE TALK about unity and bipartisanship, the most remarkable aspect of Joe Biden's administration so far is how many women he has appointed to positions of real power and influence, beginning with his running mate and now Vice President, Kamala Harris. She is not only the first female Vice President, but also the first Black American and South Asian American to hold this seat. In fact, this administration has thirteen women appointed as federal department heads in its cabinet, many of whom are also women of colour. Comparatively, the Trump administration had only two women in its ranks, and only one woman of colour. These women are not only transforming the White House’s policy priorities, but the way in which policy-making is done.
Early reports from inside the White House predict that Harris will lend her equity and racial justice perspective to all key decisions from the Oval Office – starting with the administration’s pandemic response plan. Leaning on her lived experiences as a woman of colour she’s already working to bring a more inclusive meaning of justice to the executive branch, at a time when the country so desperately needs it. A staunch defender of justice, Harris doesn’t shy away from the power of her new role. And as a former state attorney general of the country’s most populated state and the child of two civil rights activists, nor does she shy away from the on-going civil unrest around police brutality and systemic anti-Black racism.
There are also several other ‘firsts’ in this administration, like Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines who is the first woman to ever hold the position, or Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen. An economist and former Chair of the Federal Reserve, Yellen is, again, the first woman to hold both positions. During a time of deep economic turmoil, Ms. Yellen has set an ambitious agenda for the Treasury Department.
There is a school of thought in gender studies that greater women’s representation in public office opens the door to different leadership styles. While it’s too difficult to know for sure without parity in political leadership, what cannot be disputed is that the inclusion of diverse perspectives in political decision-making has the effect of changing policy directives and priorities. Moreover, some research has shown that women in politics tend to advance issues of social policy like health care and education more than their male counterparts — particularly that of expanding publicly provided childcare. Most recently, during the early months of the pandemic, female heads of government in New Zealand, Sint Maarten, Norway, Iceland and Germany were praised for their direct and empathetic COVID-19 response.
Over the last four years, Congress has felt out of touch to the American people and its decisions ineffectual and uncaring. The inclusion of diverse perspectives through greater diverse female representation in our elected offices is one way to ensure that policy-making and change is rooted in a listening, learning from, and understanding of the American people.
Take, for instance, Ms. Yellen. During her first day in office as Secretary of the Treasury, Ms. Yellen sent a memo to all Treasury Department staff stating that “ours will be an inclusive department” and that she plans on conducting an agency-wide “listening-tour” to meet with staff. She has also already publicly stated her belief that it is time for forward-thinking fiscal policy and renewed comprehensive aid programs that will ensure a healthier and more inclusive economy in the long run. Replacing Trump appointee Stephen Mnuchin – famous for embodying the greed of the Trump administration after he and his wife posed with a sheet of freshly printed one-dollar bills than for any real policy decisions – Ms. Yellen is setting a new example for how policy-making should be done in the executive branch. By nurturing professional development and idea generation internally she is able to lead a government agency efficiently without stifling it through top-down agenda setting. What’s more, her steady and compassionate hand, could not be more fitting for the economic crisis in which our nation finds itself.
That being said, adding women to the mix does not necessarily make a decision-making body more progressive. Former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, a billionaire philanthropist who made massive cuts to federal public-school funding and famously suggested guns should be used as protection in some schools, illustrates this point effectively. However, it’s often the people whose voices are heard the least in seats of power who need government the most. And adding women, who continue to be outsiders in leadership, into the decision-making fray helps give voice to those unheard.
While the future of our nation may still feel very uncertain, we can take comfort in knowing that a group of extremely talented and qualified women are using their perspectives and experiences to shape American policy-making. Let this new cabinet be one of compassion and progress and let’s all work to break down structural and systemic barriers so that more Americans, in all of their diversity, have the opportunity to follow in its path. (AB)
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The Bell is edited by Emily Nickerson, Mariel Aramburu, and Andrew Potter of the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University. If you have any feedback or would like to contribute to this newsletter, please send an email to the editors at newsletterthebell@gmail.com