Simply counting the numbers of women present in politics is an inadequate basis for theorizing the difference they might make. Drawing on research on British MPs Act), this article shows how insights gained from empirical research can inform and improve our theorizing. It suggests that the relationship between women’s descriptive and substantive representation is better conceived as complicated rather than straightforward.

The COVID-19 pandemic underscores society’s reliance on women both on the frontline and at home, while simultaneously exposing structural inequalities across every sphere, from health to the econom...