The book illustrates how community-based actions, programs, and organizations that allow women to determine their lives and participate in decision making contribute to the creation of a civil society and thus enhance democracy. The case studies show how participation in grassroots movements promotes women's involvement in their organizations, communities, and in societal institutions, as it influences state policy and empowers women in personal relationships.

JILL M. BYSTYDZIENSKI is Director of Women's Studies and Professor of Sociology at Iowa State University. She is author of many articles and book chapters on women in politics and cross–cultural comparisons of women, as well as several books, including Women Transforming Politics: Worldwide Strategies for Empowerment and Women in Electoral Politics: Lessons from Norway.
JOTI SEKHON is Associate Professor of Sociology at Greensboro College, where she is also the coordinator of the International Studies Program. She is author of Modern India, a volume in the Comparative Societies series from McGraw-Hill.