Good Reasons to Run: Women and Political Candidacy

After the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, a large cohort of women emerged to run for office. Their efforts changed the landscape of candidates and representation. However, women are still far less likely than men to seek elective office, and face biases and obstacles in campaigns. (Women running for Congress make twice as many phone calls as men to raise the same contributions.)  The editors and contributors to Good Reasons to Run, a mix of scholars and practitioners, examine the reasons why women run-and do not run-for political office. They focus on the opportunities, policies, and structures that promote women’s candidacies. How do nonprofits help recruit and finance women as candidates? And what role does money play in women’s campaigns?  The essays in Good Reasons to Run ask not just who wants to run, but how to activate and encourage such ambition among a larger population of potential female candidates while also increasing the diversity of women running for office.

About the Author :
Shauna L. Shames is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University-Camden. She is the author of Out of the Running: Why Millennials Reject Political Careers and Why It Matters; co-author of Survive and Resist: The Definitive Guide to Dystopian Politics; and co-editor of The Right Women: Republican Party Activists, Candidates, and Legislators.  Rachel I. Bernhard is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Davis.  Mirya R. Holman is an Associate Professor of Political Science, Tulane University and the author of Women in Politics in the American City (Temple).  Dawn Langan Teele is the Janice and Julian Bers Assistant Professor in the Social Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the editor of Field Experiments and Their Critics: Essays on the Uses and Abuses of Experiments in the Social Sciences and author of Forging the Franchise: The Political Origins of the Women’s Vote.

Review :
“How might more women in the United States run for and win political office? In this highly accessible and well-integrated edited volume, leading scholars in the field of women in politics provide answers. Drawing on original data, they explain how women can overcome obstacles to their candidacy and how women’s political ambition can be activated by taking into account race, class, and party affiliation. Good Reasons to Run also uncovers the new role that nonprofit organizations are playing in preparing women for public office and analyzes how money matters for women candidates. The insightful findings in this volume make it essential reading for anyone who believes that more women in politics is critical for our democratic future.”-Denise M. Walsh, University of Virginia “Good Reasons to Run fills a gap in the gender and politics literature by offering a comprehensive examination of women’s political ambition and the effectiveness of programs designed to recruit, train, and encourage female candidates to run for public office. The distinguished scholars contributing to this volume provide timely and essential guidance from an academic and practical perspective for organizations offering such programs as well as women who might consider a run for political office.”-Dianne Bystrom, Director Emerita, Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, Iowa State University