Governance refers to decision-making by a range of stakeholders, including individuals, both in formal positions of power and ‘ordinary’ citizens, households, communities and organizations. Each stakeholder brings different interests, leverage and power to governance, in the process of establishing who decision making is ‘by’ and ‘for’. An active and empowered citizenry is essential to good governance, and vice versa, including the participation of those that are asset-poor and marginalized. In the drylands, governance is characterized by a diverse array of hybrid forms of governance, encompassing different combinations and variations of: customary systems for the management of resource sharing and mobility between groups, state institutions, and a range of civil society and development organizations. This results in shifting, and sometimes overlapping, patterns of authority over a specific territory. These complex patterns of governance each generate their own forms of ‘micro-politics’ as they operate at the local level. Thus, dryland governance is diverse and specific to the local context. This study investigates women’s participation and opportunities for empowerment within this context of complex dryland governance.