The examination of representation has been a staple in political science research for quite some time. To date, most of the research examining representation explores “policy congruence,” or the degree to which the voting behavior of elected officials matches the preference of their constituents. In Multidimensional Democracy, Jeffrey J. Harden makes a momentous theoretical and empirical contribution to the discipline by exploring representation beyond the simplistic responsiveness framework that has largely become the disciplinary norm. Harden persuasively argues that to adequately understand the relationship between citizens and officials, we need to examine what legislators prioritize in the “supply side” of representation, and we also need to explain the competing demands for representation by citizens.

By aptly utilizing survey experiments of both citizens and legislators, as well as an original data set of state legislator’s Web pages, Harden’s empirical examination greatly advances our understanding of political behavior in two important ways. First, there are multiple dimensions of representation beyond policy-based representation that has dominated the extant literature. The author borrows from Heinz Eulau and Paul Karp’s (1977) examination of the components of representation that have been overlooked in favor of policy responsiveness (“The Puzzle of Representation: Specifying Components of Responsiveness,” Legislative Studies Quarterly 2(3)). He examines both the supply and demand for the four dimensions of responsiveness (policy, service, allocation, and descriptive), but unlike other work on representation, he examines each of these four areas simultaneously. One of Harden’s core findings is that citizen demands for differing types of representation in fact create long-lasting political inequality. His analysis shows that wealthier and more educated citizens tend to prefer policy-based representation, while poorer citizens and racial minorities prefer service- and allocation-based representatives.

Relatedly, Harden’s second focus involves exploring whether or not legislators devote attention to policy-related needs equally. Much of the previous research does not explore the variation in legislators’ behavior when providing for constituent demands. In this book, the author demonstrates that legislators are responsive to the particular needs of their constituents, but vary greatly in their service priorities. The wider implication of his analysis is that a “one size fits all” approach to representation does not accurately reflect the strategic behavior of legislators.

Harden begins the book by outlining the shortcomings and narrow focus in prior research on representation. In Chapter 2, he posits the supply-and-demand theory of representation with a starting point that the state of the representation literature has not developed in a coherent and connected manner. Each of the dimensions of representation has branched off into its own separate literatures, as opposed to a comprehensive examination of each dimension. Harden argues that the economic, ideological, and demographic traits of constituents each provides a different lens on how legislators meet their representational demands. While citizens have a potentially unlimited amount of demand for representation, legislators must find a way to prioritize demand given the finite resources available to them. The book takes the position that legislators are strategic in how they prioritize different dimensions of citizen need, prioritizing needs in a reelection-maximizing manner.

Each of the following three chapters offers an empirical test of the supply-and-demand-side theory of representation. Utilizing multiple survey experiments, a list experiment, and direct questioning on policy preferences in 2010 and 2012, Harden shows how citizens have systematic variation in their demands of their legislators based on their own socioeconomic position and race. Citizens who have a need for government assistance—or who view providing assistance as a central tenet of representation—strongly prefer service and allocation components of representation, while those who are better-off socioeconomically—or believe that government should have a limited role in citizen’s lives—prefer more policy-based representational priorities. Furthermore, the results of these experiments shed important light on the role of descriptive representation in the eyes of constituents. Not surprisingly, two out of three African Americans view descriptive representation as a central component of a legislator’s job. Interestingly, two out of five white citizens have this same position. Harden greatly advances our understanding of descriptive representation by examining how white respondents view this important component of meeting citizen needs.

Extending the analysis to the supply side of representation, Chapters 4 and 5 explore how legislators respond to citizen demands and present their legislative priorities to citizens in an effort to maximize their reelection potential. In Chapter 4, Harden uses survey experiments of state legislators to examine how legislators develop their representational priorities. His findings indicate that wealth and district diversity influence political behavior, concluding that legislators from wealthier and less diverse districts tend to prioritize policy-based representation, while legislators from poorer, liberal, and majority–minority districts tend to focus more on service and allocation of resources. Furthermore, these relationships are also structured by institutional capacity, with highly professionalized legislatures providing more service- and allocation-based priorities compared to citizen legislatures with limited resources. Harden convincingly suggests that legislators can generate favor in their home districts by focusing on the non-policy dimensions of representation. The most important take-away from this chapter is the potential political inequality that results from legislators’ priorities. The normative implications of this finding are concerning: the policy-based focus of legislators from wealthier, whiter districts could conceivably limit the policy-based voice of poor citizens as well as racial minorities who view legislators as focusing more on service and allocation.

Lastly, Harden collects an original data set of state legislator Web sites to examine how legislators frame their representational services to their constituents. This data collection effort is laudable, demonstrating variation in how the contextual indicators of district characteristics, as well as legislator characteristics, shape behavior. The survey instruments are a critical element of this work, but it is possible that the legislators were simply responding to the vignettes in front of them. The Web page data constitute a complementary analysis to the survey experiments that explore the actual behavior of legislators. Much like earlier findings, Harden’s results highlight the influence that a legislator’s racial identity makes in providing services to constituents. Chapter 5 also reinforces the conclusions from the survey experiment that more professionalized legislatures have more outlets for service and allocation on their members' Web pages.

Despite these significant methodological and substantive contributions, the book has a few minor shortcomings that could be addressed in future research. First, what happens when citizens are presented with legislators who focus on more than one of the policy, service, and allocation dimensions? It is highly doubtful that legislators only do one of these things; so could additional vignettes be added that allow for combinations of two or three dimensions? Second, can Web page data be linked to survey responses to see if there is a difference between true representational priorities and those on the survey response? Third, how does the context of the economy and election of 2010 and 2012 influence these findings, if at all? Would we expect the same service and allocation demands in a period of strong economic performance? Finally, is it possible that citizens view the responsibility of state legislators and members of the United State Congress differently? Is it possible that citizens’ demands for policy are different for varying levels of office?

Multidimensional Democracy is one of the most important works in American politics to come out in years. Harden’s strong theoretical argument focuses on the complex and multifaceted manner in which representation should occur, thereby establishing a new framework for future research to use as a starting point. Indeed, his contribution may render the policy-based framework of representation obsolete. Furthermore, the survey experiments utilized in this work serve as an exemplar for anyone interested in that methodological technique. This book is a must-read for scholars and students alike in any field of representation, state politics, race and politics, and experimental methodology.