Critical Actors vs. Critical Mass: The Substantive Representation of Women in the Scottish Parliament

Abstract

Recent theory-building on the substantive representation of women (SRW) in parliamentary settings contends that in addition to traditional concerns about achieving a ‘critical mass’ of women, scholars need to question who the ‘critical actors’ are. Analysis of a range of deliberative functions of the Scottish Parliament supports the critical actor thesis—yet, while female critical actors have disproportionate policy-making influence, the present study adds to contemporary understanding by highlighting that it is how critical actors interact with critical mass that plays a key role in the SRW. Thus future work needs to be cognisant of a range of factors shaping critical mass/critical actor interaction, including: institutional mechanisms, type of parliamentary proceeding, party allegiance and whether women representatives belong to the party forming the executive.