Branco, Francisco2026-01-122026-01-122025-10-31Branco, F. (2025). Portugal: delayed political engagement and short terms of office. In T. Kindler, S. Leitner, E. M. Löffler, & K. Stolz (Eds.), Social workers in political office: a comparative perspective on recruitment, career patterns and social advocacy (pp. 129-149). Policy Press.9781447373490978144737350697814473734830a4be2cc-6553-4a19-b7e1-4670482ad320http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/56484This chapter analyses the engagement of social workers holding elected office in Portugal, focusing on the 21st century. As background, a historical perspective is adopted, analysing the first participation of social workers as elected politicians in the context of the authoritarian Estado Novo political regime (1933) and the restoration of democracy after the 1974 Carnation Revolution. Methodologically, analysis of documentary and secondary sources was carried out, and fresh data were gathered through interviews with former and current elected social worker deputies in the national Parliament (Assembleia da República; 3) and the Madeira Regional Parliament (Assembleia Legislativa Regional; 1) as well as social workers elected as mayor (2). In the absence of systematic data on social workers elected at the municipal level, an online survey was circulated among members of the National Association of Social Workers (APSS) to provide a census of social workers elected at the municipal level. This covered region, municipality, positions, mandates, political affiliation. Information was gathered from a non-representative sample (n = 43) for the terms from 1990 to 2024.engbook part105024926819