In this innovative contribution to the theory of representation - which draws on debates about gender quotas in Europe, minority voting rights in the USA, and the multi-layered politics of inclusion in Canada - Anne Phillips argues that the politics of ideas is an inadequate vehicle for dealing with political exclusion. But eschewing any essentialist grounding to group identity or group interest, she also argues against any either/or choice between ideas and political presence.

The politics of presence then combines with contemporary explorations of deliberative democracy to establish a different balance between accountability and autonomy.