Kenneth A. Loparo 
Party Politics, Religion, and Women’s Leadership 
Lebanon in Comparative Perspective

Exploring the interlinkages of political parties, religiosity, and women’s leadership and nominations to public office, this book argues that as party religiosity increases, women’s chances of assuming leadership positions fall. Combining qualitative and quantitative methods, it advances a new theory of party variation in religiosity.

Table of Content

Introduction 1. Toward a Theory of Party Religiosity and Women’s Leadership 2. A Traveling Theory of Party Religiosity and Women’s Leadership 3. Why Lebanon? The Puzzle and Pool of Women in Party Politics 4. Party Religiosity, Political Culture, and the Civil War 5. Unpacking Party Institutionalization 6. Finding that Special Niche: Women for Parties 7. Party Politics Explaining Women’s Leadership 8. Can Women Break Through the Political Glass Ceiling? Concluding Remarks Epilogue

About the author

Fatima Sbaity Kassem is the former Director of the UN-Centre for Women, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA) in Baghdad, Amman, and Beirut and a freelance consultant on gender and women’s issues in Arab countries. She received her Ph D from Columbia University, USA and was Regional Coordinator for the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995).