Women have reached the highest levels of public office in Canada's provinces and territories, but what difference – if any – has their rise to the top made? Have they changed the content, tone, and style of politics? What role has gender played in their triumph and defeat?

In Doing Politics Differently? leading researchers from across the country assess the track records of eleven premiers, including their impact on policies of particular interest to women and their influence on the tenor of legislative debate and the recruitment of other women as party candidates, cabinet ministers, and senior bureaucrats.

Canada stands out for the variety and number of women who have reached the top in subnational government. By evaluating the performance of women premiers across the country and comparing their records with those of men who preceded and succeeded them, this innovative volume probes how important demographic diversity is to government decision making.

1 Exploring Women's Leadership / Sylvia Bashevkin

Part 1: The Territories

2 "Never in My Life Did I Do Anything Alone": Nellie Cournoyea as Premier of the Northwest Territories / Graham White

3 Pat Duncan, Yukon's Accidental Premier / Maura Forrest

4 Eva Aariak: Strong Nunavut Leader, Reluctant Politician / Sheena Kennedy Dalseg

Part 2: Atlantic Canada

5 Striking a Balance: Catherine Callbeck as Premier of Prince Edward Island / Don Desserud and Robin Sutherland

6 In the Wake of Male Charisma: Kathy Dunderdale and the Status of Women in Newfoundland and Labrador Politics / Drew Brown, Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant, and Amanda Bittner

Part 3: Central Canada

7 Pauline Marois's Paradoxical Record as Quebec Premier / Philippe Bernier Arcand

8 Activist Outsider Becomes Partisan Insider: Kathleen Wynne as Ontario Premier / Sylvia Bashevkin

Part 4: Western Canada

9 Rita Johnston and Christy Clark as British Columbia Premiers / Tracy Summerville

10 Women and Politics in Alberta under Alison Redford / Clark Banack

11 Governing as if Women Mattered: Rachel Notley as Alberta Premier / Melanee Thomas

Part 5: Drawing Conclusions

12 Doing Politics Differently? / Sylvia Bashevkin

Contributors; Index