The difference between historians and political scientists is that historians tell the story and draw conclusions; political scientists often over theorize. Bashevkin (Toronto) has produced a very interesting comparative study of four women who held senior foreign policy posts during the last three decades-Jeane Kirkpatrick, Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice, and Hillary Clinton. Her conclusions are hardly shocking. Women leaders are not monolithic; they
reflect different experiences, points of view, ideologies, and decision-making styles, which may or may not mirror the larger female electorate. The four women did not act differently from men in terms of the employment of military power. Each had varying emphasis on how important feminist issues were in
their policy recommendations. The profiles and comparative analysis are interesting and useful.
Sylvia Bashevkin is Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto. She is the author of Women, Power, Politics ;Tales of Two Cities: Women and Municipal Restructuring in London and Toronto; and Welfare Hot Buttons: Women, Work and Social Policy Reform.