Why are we seeing a proliferation of female politicians who members of political dynasties? Female politicians who are the wife, widow, daughter or sister of a prominent male politician have risen to the highest posts in politics as heads of parties and even heads of state. How can we account for this phenomenon? What does it mean about the trajectories of women in politics? Does the trend signal the rise of a new kind of power elite and a decline in democratic accountability? And finally, what does it tell us about transformations in early twenty-first century democratic politics? FAMGENPO proposes to compare the political trajectories of two successful cases of direct familial succession (Marine le Pen of Frances National Front, and Argentinas President, Cristina Kirchner), two mid-range cases of successful indirect familial succession (Israels Tzipni Livni, and Chiles Michelle Bachelat), and one failed case (Segolene Royal of the French Socialist Party).