The world’s 10
Most Powerful Political Women.
On this year’s list of the world’s 100 most powerful women, three of the top five most powerful are politicians. There are eight heads of state, several new faces and almost every political returnee from last year’s list moved up in the rankings. Why? “There cannot be true democracy unless women’s voices are heard,” Hillary Rodham Clinton once famously said. More than ever, women are leading or running for office in many of the world’s largest nations, demanding that representation inch closer to parity.
Women are taking up the highest offices around the globe. Ranked the No. 1 most powerful woman and female politician is German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who directly controls the $2.9 trillion GDP of Germany and influences the $14.8 trillion economy of the European Union. Germany is the world’s fifth biggest economy and the largest nation led by a woman. In office since 2005, Merkel is now leading the charge to stabilize E.U. debt and keep the 17-member euro zone unified.
Just behind her at No. 2 on the list is U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is fourth in line to succeed the president. As the world ambassador of the largest single economy on earth, Clinton has advanced U.S. interests and policies overseas while pushing women’s issues, development and education to the top of the foreign policy agenda. She is one of a handful of women to have run for U.S. president on a major ticket and undoubtedly paved the way for the women coming up in politics behind her.
On the global playing field, Clinton may have even more status than her title conveys. Political commentator and fellow power woman Greta Van Susteren told Forbes recently, “She’s different than most secretaries of state. When she lands in a country, [Clinton] might as well be the President of the United States… The whole world knows her.”
Ranked the third most powerful woman this year, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff directs the world’s eighth largest economy. Rousseff is the biggest mover on the list, climbing 92 spots to No. 3 in 2011 from No. 95 in 2010. When Forbes went to press last year, she was ramping up for a runoff election in October that went in her favor, making Rousseff the first female head of government in Brazil. The economist and former Marxist guerrilla served previously as the country’s Minister of Energy and Chief of Staff, during which a reported 24 million escaped absolute poverty. She’s also embraced social media: her 750,000-plus followers landed her on our top-10 list of female power tweeters. Soon all eyes will be on Brazil as the nation gears up to host the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics.
Other female world leaders like Sonia Gandhi, president of the Indian National Congress Party; Cristina Fernandez, president of Argentina; Julia Gillard, prime minister of Australia; Yingluck Shinawatra, prime minister of Thailand; Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, president of Liberia; and Laura Chinchilla, president of Costa Rica, all prove that women are competent and capable government leaders—and that constituencies are ready and able to elect them.
Angela Merkel.
Age : 57
German Chancellor Angela Merkel smiles during the signing of economic contracts between Russia and Germany at a meeting of the German and Russian governments in Hannover, northern Germany, on Tuesday, July 19, 2011.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel smiles during the signing of economic contracts between Russia and Germany at a meeting of the German and Russian governments in Hannover, northern Germany, on Tuesday, July 19, 2011.
Hillary Clinton.
Age : 63
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton poses for the photographers at Zarzuela Palace on July 2, 2011 in Madrid, Spain. Clinton is on official two-day trip to Madrid.
Age : 63
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton poses for the photographers at Zarzuela Palace on July 2, 2011 in Madrid, Spain. Clinton is on official two-day trip to Madrid.
Dilma Rousseff.
Age : 63
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff speaks during a joint press conference with US President Barack Obama at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, on March 19, 2011. Obama is on a two-day visit to Brazil as part of a tour that includes Chile and El Salvador.
Age : 63
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff speaks during a joint press conference with US President Barack Obama at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, on March 19, 2011. Obama is on a two-day visit to Brazil as part of a tour that includes Chile and El Salvador.
Sonia Gandhi.
Age : 64
Age : 64
United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government Chairperson Sonia Gandhi prior to a meeting in New Delhi on December 16, 2010. China and India's premiers agreed December 16 to double bilateral trade to 100 billion dollars by 2015, during talks that otherwise showed no apparent progress on a series of nagging disputes.
Michelle Obama.
Age : 47
U.S. First lady Michelle Obama speaks about healthy food during an event in the East Room at the White House on July 20, 2011 in Washington, DC. As part of the first lady's campaign to combat childhood obesity, she participated in the announcement from major food retailers to open stores that will sell healthy, affordable food in more areas across the U.S.
Kathleen Sebelius.
Age : 55
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testifies during the Senate Appropriations Labor-HHS Subcommittee hearing on defending against public health threats.
Janet Napolitano.
Age : 53
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano prepares to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on border security and the killing of Osama Bin Laden on Capitol Hill May 4, 2011 in Washington, DC. Napolitano said that security had been "surged" at airports, along the international borders and other places in the wake of the commando raid that killed Bin Laden on Sunday in Pakistan.
Cristina Fernandez.
Age : 58
Margaret "Peggy" Hamburg, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, listens during the Research America annual meeting and national forum at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, March 16, 2010. The panel was titled "Translating discoveries into better health."
Michele Bachmann.
Age :55
Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner arrives to visit the Argentinian pavilion at the 54th International Art Exhibition in Venice on June 3, 2011. The Biennale entitled "Illuminations" will open to the public from June 4 to November 27, 2011, in the Giardini and the Arsenale exhibition venues, as well as in various other locations around the city.
Margaret Hamburg.
Age : 56Margaret "Peggy" Hamburg, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, listens during the Research America annual meeting and national forum at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, March 16, 2010. The panel was titled "Translating discoveries into better health."
Age :55
Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. takes part in a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 13, 2011.
