ABSTRACT
An image that many hold when thinking about the Middle East is that women do not participate or take active roles in politics. Yet, Arab women have always been active in politics. In this chapter, I employ a gender lens to better understand how party ideology – e.g., Islamist, socialist, and pro-regime parties – and electoral gender quotas shape outcomes for women’s representation. I argue that women’s agency and institutional factors such as quota laws and party strategies have proven more decisive in women taking on these roles and show that electing women, regardless of party ideology, can improve some dimensions of women’s representation. Some Islamist parties, including Ennhada in Tunisia, have been active in fielding women and women have helped reach female constituents while respecting piety. Yet existing research suggests that electing women, regardless of party ideology can improve some dimensions of women’s representation.
