Politics, Elections and the “Reality” of Women’s Rights in Kuwait

Political authoritarianism has been constant feature in the Arab political systems, and despite the ongoing “Arab Spring,” there is a continuing tendency to prevent women from freely participating in political processes. Recently, a handful of Arab countries have consented to slightly alter their political systems so as to allow women and opposition groups to have a greater say on political issues. Nevertheless, the Arab Middle East as a whole is still a long way from being a region where women are engaged in political life. Politics in the Gulf monarchies or states making up the Fertile Crescent still remains a male-dominated profession. The ratio of female to male politicians is significantly small in comparison to other regions of the world.