The he-said-she-said debate between Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders surrounding the last Democratic debate has put the question of whether a woman can be elected president of the United States on the national stage.

In a presidential primary that has been hyper-focused on the question of electability, it is not altogether surprising that this question would come up – though it is surely disappointing for those who dare hope that votes today get cast based on a candidate’s policy proposals rather than his or her gender.

That Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in the 2016 elections by 2.87 million votes[i] suggests that a woman can be elected president of the United States – and indeed would be right now were it not for the Electoral College. That the New York Times Editorial Board issued its coveted endorsement this weekend to two female candidates, Senators Warren and Klobuchar, suggests that, at least to some, a woman should be president of the United States.

During the last Democratic debate, Senator Amy Klobuchar argued that women are held to a higher standard in politics than their male counterparts – or everyone would be able to cite their favorite female president of the United States.

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While no country has had enough female heads of state to enable a real choice of ‘favorite’ (only a handful of countries have surpassed two), progress towards such a debate is slowly ramping up abroad. In 2018, 26 out of more than 190 countries or territories were ruled by women; this represents less than 15% but is nonetheless a historic high.[1]