Kamala Harris versus Angela Merkel: which political culture is more old fashioned?

Kamala Harris’s election as US Vice President has been hailed all over the world as a landmark: the first time that a woman (of mixed race and the daughter of immigrants) has reached such position. Women have been leading countries like Germany, India, Ireland and the UK for many years – but in the US the fact that a woman has reached the vice presidency, still needs to be celebrated.

The US leads the world of politics in many respects, but not on gender equality: the percentage of women in Congress or in the Cabinet is much lower than in most European countries; it is lower even than in countries such as Mexico, South Africa and Ethiopia.

Another area of US politics where further progress is needed is the role of political consorts. While in most European countries spouses and partners are no longer expected to give up their jobs to dedicate themselves fully to supporting their partner’s political career, in the US that is still the norm. To date, the wives of all US presidents have given up their jobs to support their partners – and that includes women who are feminist icons such as Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama (who defined her own role as “mom-in-chief”) The reason for them doing so is the focus of US politics on the image of the candidates and their families – a direct consequence of the enormous media pressure there.

US politics is not the only instance where women give up their jobs to support their partners. Progress on gender equality is measured in detail year after year. But something that has not yet been measured is the proportion of women with a university education and economic means who voluntarily abandon their careers in order to support the careers of their “successful” husbands or partners in politics or in business.

It is a tricky subject because the decisions a family makes about their life are nobody’s business. In most cases those families enjoy a considerable amount of help with both house chores and childcare. And yet, if those women can afford not to work, they should be absolutely free not to do so, of course. But the concept underlying that old-fashioned behaviour is the belief that in a couple, the success of one person inexorably entails the proportional sacrifice of the other’s success – the irritating question of “Who wears the trousers at home?” In a relationship does one person’s power always depends on the other’s weakness?

Yet the progress of women in the top jobs has made it more acceptable for political consorts to continue with their day jobs, regardless of their partners “success”: Theresa May’s husband was not asked to give up any of his professional endeavours; Jacinda Ardern’s husband returned to his TV role a year after their baby was born; and Angela Merkel’s husband is a professor of physics and chemistry at a German university. Indeed, he watched Merkel’s inauguration on television at his university; and when the Queen visited Germany, journalists asked why Mr Merkel was not at the reception ceremony. The answer was that “he was working”.

In comparison, politics in the US still follows more traditional routes. Without the new administration having even taken office yet, Kamala Harris’s husband has announced that he will leave his job as a lawyer and dedicate himself fully to supporting Harris. They do not have young children, so his decision has been seen as a move to help Harris’s race to the presidency in 2024. A race that, in pure American political tradition, will focus more on her image and the image of her family than on her policies.

At present the only person leading a democratic country with a popular approval rating of 70 per cent (70 per cent!) is not one who has dedicated huge resources to promoting their own image, nor one whose consort is ‘fully’ dedicated to supporting them. It is Angela Merkel – a real example of how one can be successful in politics without having to turn your life and your family into a circus. Receiving such approval ratings in a democratic country after 15 years in power, while having made a number of unpopular decisions (such as opening Germany to Syrian refugees) and in the middle of a pandemic is simply extraordinary. The fact that this has been done by a 66-year-old woman without using her family’s image or compromising her own image is a true landmark.

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