Widows and Wives in Pacific Politics: A Reliable Pathway for Women?

Widows and Wives in Pacific Politics: A Reliable Pathway for Women?

Understanding women’s pathways to political leadership remains a critical area of academic and public policy focus in the Pacific. In this In Brief, Baker and Palmieri consider an alternate and potentially rather ‘macabre’ pathway (Kincaid 1978), albeit one which sheds light on the cultural and political economies of elections in the Pacific and which they believe requires further elucidation: the election of wives and widows of former members of parliament.