The Portuguese Parliament has changed enormously since it was first introduced in the mid-1970s. Most of these changes took place in the aftermath of the experience of the absolute majorities period, in the second decade of democracy. After the time when representation and legitimacy were paramount principles came a time where effectiveness became the key issue in the practice of democracy. Drawing from different sources of research, this article focuses on the changes that the Portuguese Parliament has been through since its inauguration. It looks into the social and demographic profiles of MPs, as well as their career patterns, centring thereafter in parliament's structure and activity. A section on regulatory change provides the framework to understand better the final sections on the legislative and scrutiny functions. The authors wish to thank the Portuguese Parliament's Divisão de Informação Legislativa e Parlamentar, in particular Conceição Azevedo, as well as its Arquivo Histórico Parlamentar for the valuable support given in data collection. Moreover, part of this article stems from a study on parliamentary recruitment supported by the Secretariado Técnico dos Assuntos para o Processo Eleitoral. We are grateful for its support, namely to Fátima Mendes, Jorge Miguéis and graça archer. we are also grateful to Sally Clark for her help with our difficult Portuguese terms.

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• Law - Social Sciences
• Political Science - Social Sciences