In late January 2014, the National Dialogue Conference (NDC) in Yemen came to an end with the approval of the outcomes and recommendations document outlining the future of the country. According to the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, the NDC was a “historic moment” which “established a new social contract and opened a new page in the history of Yemen, breaking from the past and paving the way for democratic governance founded on the rule of the law, human rights and equal citizenship”. Among the participants in the NDC was a large number of tribal figures who were representing various political parties and independent factions. The NDC represents an effort to bring a consensus among opposing political and social factions on the future nature of the state-society, including the tribal system. The paper seeks to shed light on the tribe-state relationship through analysis of the engagement of the tribal figures in the NDC. It analyzes the nature of their participation with particular attention to their views and positions regarding the most controversial issues of the NDC: the nature of the state structure (centralized vs. decentralized; simple unified state vs. federal state system), the rule of law and human rights vs. the code of behavior among Yemeni tribes (‘urf qabali), transitional justice, and the democratic processes during the transition period. It explores whether the tribal figures exhibited a homogeneous position aimed at maintaining the relative autonomy of the tribal areas and resisting the efforts to expand state apparatus in these areas regardless of their political and social affiliation. The analysis draws on important documents presented by tribal participants to the NDC depicting their views on these and other major political issues. In so doing, I will test the validity of a Yemeni scholar’s claim that “every time an attempt was made to create a modern state with strong institutions the tribal institution managed to turn the tide to its favor”. The situation is intriguing from many perspectives. Will this lead to changes in the political future of the country because of democratic participation of tribal elements in the making of this future? Or is tribal participation a new form of tribalizing the democratic process of the country? This and many other related questions will be examined in my paper.