ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates the variety of leadership styles among the presidentas. It gauges the women's leadership styles, policy successes, as well as challenges. Leadership modes and perceptions of success are also fluid and highly dependent on the specific circumstances faced including paths to power and partisan dynamics. The research focusing specifically on the leadership style of women presidents of Latin America is quite slim and does not offer many assessments, though challenges they faced, including turbulent political environments. Sometimes women's political leadership style represents simply more of the same; other times a departure from politics as usual. Most scholarship evaluating potential gender differences in leadership style derives from studies of legislators, often in the American context. This research suggests that women adopt leadership based on consensus building while men exert control and power. Men are often noted as utilizing a hard style of leadership that stresses hierarchical relationships while women's governance is viewed as softer.
