Legislatures are vital to new democracies and to date no democracy has survived without one. Exploring the dynamics and mechanisms that facilitate or weaken the role of the Parliament, Ahmed Abdul Kareem Saif reinforces the importance of placing the Parliament in a context that shows how it reflects its socio-political surroundings. A detailed analysis of the development of the elected legislative body in Yemen, from its establishment after unification in 1990, this work enables researchers to clearly identify not only the similarities between societies, but also the crucial differences.