This thesis investigates whether Moldova’s 2016 gender quota law has produced genuine political change or remained largely symbolic. Grounded in Pitkin’s (1967) distinction between descriptive and substantive representation and Childs and Krook’s (2006) concept of critical actors, the study employs a qualitative single-case study design combining process tracing with socio-legal analysis of the legislative record.The analysis proceeds in two stages. Stage 1 traces women’s parliamentary representation across three post-quota electoral phases: stagnation in 2019 (25.7%), a historic rise in 2021(40.6%), and a modest contraction in 2025 (37.6%). Stage 2 examines the legislative record across four domains, applying a three-criterion test of timing, substantive depth, and agency trace to each reform.The thesis finds that Moldova’s post-quota decade is not merely symbolic, but that substantive representation is partial and uneven. The 2024 femicide legislation provides the strongest evidence of active women’s parliamentary agency, satisfying all three criteria. The 2022 pay transparency law presents a plausible but evidentially incomplete case. The remaining reforms are more convincingly attributed to structural factors, particularly EU integration pressure. Moldova represents a case of partial substantive representation: genuine legislative influence, mediated by enabling institutional conditions that have not yet become self-sustaining.