The “Magic” Number: Women’s Critical Mass and Substantive Representation in Angola

This study explores whether and how a critical mass of women in parliament, after years of underrepresentation, translates into substantive representation of women (SRW). Critical mass in politics refers to a threshold number necessary to effect change in legislative contexts. It is rooted in the assumed causal relationship between two forms of representation— descriptive and substantive—implying that SRW depends on active political engagement. This paper offers a nuanced perspective by deconstructing SRW into a process and an outcome, and it suggests four potential scenarios that connect critical mass to SRW. Through a comparative within-case analysis of Angola, a country that witnessed the emergence of a critical mass of women through the adoption of gender quotas after a prolonged period of underrepresentation, this study reveals that SRW can manifest in multiple forms. This study challenges the assumption of a direct link between SRW and descriptive representation of women (DRW) by demonstrating that the impact of DRW on SRW is multiple and can proceed independently as both a process and an outcome. Ultimately, this paper underscores the need for a more comprehensive understanding of SRW in diverse political contexts.