Nasser Yassin is Director of Research at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, and professor of policy and planning at the Health Management and Policy Department at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanon.Robert Hoppe is Professor of Knowledge and Public Policy in the Faculty of Management and Governance, Twente University, the Netherlands. He is also Senior Nonresidential Fellow of the American University of Beirut’s (AUB) Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Relations, Lebanon.

• 1. Introduction.- 2. ‘Civil Societies’ and the Arab Uprisings-Prospects for Socio-Political Change: A Comparative Analysis of the On-Going Tunisian and Egyptian Plight.- 3. The Political Participation of Women in The Arab World: Mapping the Movement, Experiences and Challenges Facing Arab Women from the Beginning of the Twentieth Century until the Post-Arab Uprisings Era: Expectations, Paths and Outcomes.- 4. Civil Society Advocacy and Policy Entrepreneurship: Examining the Making of the Law 293 to Criminalize Domestic Violence in Lebanon.- 5. Empowering Women through Land Policy Change: The “Soulaliyate” Movement in Morocco.- 6. Minimum Marriagable Age Legislation in Yemen, 2008-2014: Exploring Some Limits to Portability of the Act.- 7. Sysiphus is a Woman: Policymaking on Women Issues in Three Arab Countries.

Nasser Yassin is Director of Research at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, and professor of policy and planning at the Health Management and Policy Department at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanon.Robert Hoppe is Professor of Knowledge and Public Policy in the Faculty of Management and Governance, Twente University, the Netherlands. He is also Senior Nonresidential Fellow of the American University of Beirut’s (AUB) Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Relations, Lebanon.

• 1. Introduction.- 2. ‘Civil Societies’ and the Arab Uprisings-Prospects for Socio-Political Change: A Comparative Analysis of the On-Going Tunisian and Egyptian Plight.- 3. The Political Participation of Women in The Arab World: Mapping the Movement, Experiences and Challenges Facing Arab Women from the Beginning of the Twentieth Century until the Post-Arab Uprisings Era: Expectations, Paths and Outcomes.- 4. Civil Society Advocacy and Policy Entrepreneurship: Examining the Making of the Law 293 to Criminalize Domestic Violence in Lebanon.- 5. Empowering Women through Land Policy Change: The “Soulaliyate” Movement in Morocco.- 6. Minimum Marriagable Age Legislation in Yemen, 2008-2014: Exploring Some Limits to Portability of the Act.- 7. Sysiphus is a Woman: Policymaking on Women Issues in Three Arab Countries.

Nasser Yassin is Director of Research at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, and professor of policy and planning at the Health Management and Policy Department at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanon.Robert Hoppe is Professor of Knowledge and Public Policy in the Faculty of Management and Governance, Twente University, the Netherlands. He is also Senior Nonresidential Fellow of the American University of Beirut’s (AUB) Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Relations, Lebanon.

• 1. Introduction.- 2. ‘Civil Societies’ and the Arab Uprisings-Prospects for Socio-Political Change: A Comparative Analysis of the On-Going Tunisian and Egyptian Plight.- 3. The Political Participation of Women in The Arab World: Mapping the Movement, Experiences and Challenges Facing Arab Women from the Beginning of the Twentieth Century until the Post-Arab Uprisings Era: Expectations, Paths and Outcomes.- 4. Civil Society Advocacy and Policy Entrepreneurship: Examining the Making of the Law 293 to Criminalize Domestic Violence in Lebanon.- 5. Empowering Women through Land Policy Change: The “Soulaliyate” Movement in Morocco.- 6. Minimum Marriagable Age Legislation in Yemen, 2008-2014: Exploring Some Limits to Portability of the Act.- 7. Sysiphus is a Woman: Policymaking on Women Issues in Three Arab Countries.