Why Aren't They There? comparatively analyzes the representation of women over time and presents a critical view of the effectiveness of quotas. Incorporating new research on ethnic groups in legislatures, the text takes a significant step forward in the study of political representation and systematically examines issue positions in eight policy domains. It examines aspects that are not broached in studies focusing solely on a single form of representation. The result is a comprehensive understanding of political representation that leads to significant, policy-relevant insights on electoral engineering.