ABSTRACT
As presidential nominees and as departmental executives, cabinet secretaries are representatives to and from the Oval Office, the Congress, their departments, and their departments' constituents. Recognizing the power that flows from relationship-building and communication—the definitive functions of representation—political scientists have debated which alliance most decisively affects each secretary's performance. These exchanges have, in turn, revealed the dilemmas of decision making in a system of separated powers, in which no branch is dominant and change is the only constant. Notwithstanding these contributions to our understanding of U.S. politics, cabinet research has generally been blind to the workings of gender.
