Why Aren't They There? is a comprehensive study of political representation in a cross-national format, making a cross-country comparison of the representation of women, ethnic groups, and policy positions.

It includes an analysis of the representation of women over time, and presents a critical view of the effectiveness of quotas. Using new data on ethnic groups in legislatures, it makes a significant step forward in the analysis of political representation. The representation of issue positions is examined in eight policy domains, and the book's systematic approach allows a groundbreaking examination of how different forms of representation – women, ethnic groups, issue positions – are interlinked.

Didier Ruedin examines aspects unattainable in studies focusing only on a single form of representation. The result is a comprehensive understanding of political representation, and important and policy-relevant insights for electoral engineering.