Women in Parliament: A Study of Issue-Specific Female Coalition Building in Morocco

Currently, 81 out of 395 members of the House of Representatives, Morocco’s lower chamber of Parliament, are women. In other words, roughly 20.5% of the representatives are women. For comparison\u27s sake, the world average is 23.8%.1 Morocco is near the world average in terms of representation, but what does female representation accomplish? Are the women in parliament effective at representing Moroccan women, their rights, and their concerns? This paper explores the concept of female parliamentarians as substantive representatives of female citizens. Specifically, this paper examines if female members of parliament (MPs) form coalitions around issues that are specific to women, such as women’s political representation and violence against women. This paper also investigates the various reasons that women do not work across party lines despite pressure from civil society and the women’s movement