It is now widely acknowledged that formerly excluded groups such as women and immigrant minorities should have a political voice and presence in civil society and in political bodies. And yet, equal representation is rare in much of Europe. While we have made progress in monitoring the level and development of representation, more work is needed to understand questions like the preconditions of political presence (in the statistical and the substantive sense), the forms it may take (e.g. as ethnic group lobbyism or as diversity advocacy), and the interactions between constituents and representatives. At a time when many group loyalties are weakening, and gaps between voters and representatives seem to be widening, we need to reconsider the prevailing assumptions about “majority” and “minority” politics.