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their presence in elected assemblies. Representation as currently understood derives its legitimacy from apolitics of ideas, which considers accountability in relation to declared policies and programs, and makes it a matter of relative indifference who articulates political preferences or beliefs. What happens to the meaning of representation and accountability when we make the gender or ethniccomposition of elected assemblies an additional area of concern? In this innovative contribution to the theory of representationwhich draws upon debates about gender quotas in Europe, minority voting rights in the USA, and the multi-layered politics of inclusion in Canadathe author argues thatthe 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 either/or choice between ideas and political presence. The work then combines with contemporary explorations ofdeliberative democracy to establish a different balance between accountability and autonomy.