US exceptionalism is reflected in a number of ways with important political ramifications. The electoral college and the composition of the Senate violates the modern democratic principle of majority rule. The American presidency is a medieval office as it combines the functions of a head of state as well as of government and is an anachronism amongst modern constitutional practices. It was described by Schlesinger as imperial and continues to be so. The defeat of two well-educated wo men presidential candidates in 2016 and 2024 by a pronounced misogynist male supremacist reflects this exceptionalism. On crucial issues of economic equality, racial integration and women’s rights, the US, according to Dahl, has fallen behind other nations seriously denting its soft power status too.

The US Constitution did not forbid slavery nor did it empower Congress to do so. It also did not guarantee the universal right of suffrage. Initially only, white male landowners had the right while women, African-American and native Americans struggled hard and long to secure it despite Washington wishing for an end of slavery and incorporation of native Americans in the political process as equals. The 14th amendment (1866), passed after the Civil War ended slavery and granted the right to all adult males and the 15th amendment (1870) stated that voting rights could not be denied on account of race. But it wasn’t until the 1960s after the Civil Rights Movement that African-Americans secured the right to vote. Women despite their struggle since the 1820s got the right to vote in 1920 through the 19th amendment.

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The first woman to serve in a presidential Cabinet was Frances Perkins as Secretary of Labour. She was appointed in 1933 by President Roosevelt and served until 1945. Till date, seven women have served as labour secretary, the highest number. Since 1933, some 83 women have been part of different presidential cabinets. The highest number, 19, were in Obama’s Cabinet followed by 17 and 15 in the cabinets of Biden and Clinton respectively. All three were presidents from the Democratic Party. Women occupied three of the top Cabinet posts in the Biden Administration, the vice president, secretary of treasury and director of national intelligence. It is for the first time women hold these three positions. Biden’s Cabinet was mul ti-racial as it included four White and four Black women, one AsianAmerican, one Hispanic, one American-Indian and one multiracial woman. The cabinets of Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon were exclusively male. There were four women in Carter’s Cabinet. Other than being visible in the corridors of power and decision-making the important issue is whether women were part of........

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