Shames

Shauna Shames

Assistant Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University-Camden
Areas of Expertise:
  • Media & Public Opinion
  • Reproductive Health
  • LGBT
  • Race & Ethnicity
  • Religion
  • Women

Connect with Shauna

(856) 225-2974

About Shauna

Shames’ primary area of academic interest is American political behavior, with a focus on race, gender, and politics. For her dissertation research, she has been conducting and analyzing data from an original survey and a set of in-depth interviews about potential candidates' expectations about politics, political campaigns, and serving in elective office. Shames has published articles, reports, and book chapters on women as candidates, black women in Congress, comparative child care policy, work/family conflict, abortion, feminism in the U.S. and internationally, gay and lesbian rights, and U.S. public opinion. In addition, she has designed and taught courses (as an instructor and as a teaching fellow/assistant) on race, class, gender, American politics, women's studies, the history of feminism, freshman writing, and futuristic fiction, and has lectured widely on gender, race, and politics. She has worked for multiple nonprofit and foundation groups relating to women and politics, including NOW, the White House Project, the Salzburg Global Seminar, and the Parity Project of the Hunt Alternatives Fund.

Briefs | Podcast | Publications | In the News

Briefs

Shattering the Glass Ceiling for Women in Politics

  • Pamela O'Leary
SSN Basic Facts,

Podcast

Episode 42:
Running against All Odds

Publications

Out of the Running: Why Millennials Reject Political Careers and Why it Matters (New York University Press, 2017).

Draws from extensive research with graduate students in elite institutions that have historically been a direct link for their graduates into state or federal elected office to ask if millennials are as uninterested in political issues and the future of the American political system as the media suggests. Finds that they are not uninterested; rather, they do not believe that a career in politics is the best way to create change.

"The Un-Candidates: Gender and Outsider Signals in Women’s Political Ads" Women & Politics Journal 25, no. 1 (2003): 115-146.
Explores the role of gender in political advertising through a systematic analysis of campaign commercials from U.S. House, Senate, and Governor races from 1964 to 1998.
"Mother’s Dreams: Abortion and the High Price of Motherhood" (with Joan Williams). University of Pennsylvania Law Review 6, no. 4 (2004): 818-843.
Argues that women get abortions for reasons having to do with their dreams for their existing and future children, including wanting good education, enough food, and good parenting for the children.
"Political Pathways to Child Care Policy" (with Kristin Goss), in Women and Politics Around the World, edited by Joyce Gelb and Marian Lief Palley (ABC-CLIO Press, 2008), 143-158.
Investigates pathways to child care policy for women’s movements across six countries.
"Toward a Theory of Backlash: Dynamic Resistance and the Central Role of Power" Politics & Gender Journal 4, no. 4 (2008): 623-634.
Presents a new theory of backlash to progressive social movements.
"Culture War?: A Closer Look at the Role of Religion, Denomination, and Religiosity in U.S. Public Opinion on Multiple Sexualities" (with Didi Kuo and Katherine Levine), in Faith, Politics, and Sexual Diversity in Canada and the U.S., edited by David Rayside and Clyde Wilcox (University of British Columbia Press, 2011), 29-48.
Presents data analysis on public opinion about various gay/lesbian rights issues, finding that the more heavily religious and orthodox one is, the more likely to oppose expansions of GLBT rights.
"What, if Anything, is to be Done?" in The Un-Heavenly Chorus: Unequal Political Voice in America, edited by Kay Schlozman, Sidney Verba, and Henry Brady (Princeton University Press, 2012), 534-572.
Explores possible governmental policy solutions to the problem of unequal political voice.

In the News

Guest to discuss The Great (Political) Divide: Why Women and Millennials are Underrepresented in Politics on Maine Public, Shauna Shames, March 20, 2018.
Shauna Shames quoted on involving youth in politics in Steve Collins, "Young People Wary of Getting Involved in Politics, Expert Says" Sun Journal, March 6, 2018.
Shauna Shames quoted on millennials’ preference for running for state and local elections in Natalie Delgadillo, "Is Trump's Presidency Actually Inspiring More Millennials to Run for Office?" Governing, November 15, 2017.
Shauna Shames quoted in Charlotte Alter, "'We Can Do it Better.' Meet the Millennials Taking over City hall" Time, October 12, 2017.
Shauna Shames quoted on millennials’ level of interest in running for office in Raina Lipsitz, "Why Don't More Women Run for Office? Because It Sucks" Glamour, August 8, 2017.
"Texas is Deceptive on Fetal Burial Rule," Shauna Shames (with Rhonda Struminger), Corpus Christi Caller Times, January 16, 2017.
Shauna Shames's research on why millenials are not running for office discussed in Tom McLaughlin. Shauna Shames, "The Age of Declines: Researcher’s New Book Explores Why Millennials are Rejecting Public Office," Rutgers-Camden News Now, February 1, 2017.
Shauna Shames's research on millenials becoming political candidates discussed in Emma Green. Shauna Shames, "‘Nobody Wants to Run for Office’," The Atlantic, January 28, 2017.
"Marching beyond Red vs. Blue," Shauna Shames, Huffington Post, January 30, 2017.
Shauna Shames's research on the costs and benefits of running for office discussed in Alexander C. Kafka. Shauna Shames, "Why Millennials Don’t Want to Run for Office," The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 4, 2017.
Shauna Shames quoted on rural regions of New Jersey receive less public services in Joe Hernandez, "New Research Confirms South Jersey Doesn’t Get Fair Share of Public Resources" Newsworks, December 6, 2016.
"Ohio is Exhibit A for Why More Women Should be Elected to Office," Shauna Shames (with Ohio State Representative Kathleen Clyde), Cleveland.com, September 2, 2016.
Interview on the 2016 presidential electionShauna Shames, Rutgers-Camden News Now, July 31, 2016.
"Why the Hillary Generation Gap Polls Don't Tell the Full Story," Shauna Shames, Huffington Post, December 21, 2015.
Shauna Shames's research on gender gap in politics discussed in Shane Ferro. Shauna Shames, "Women Have Very Little Political Power Anywhere in the World," Huffington Post, November 18, 2015.
Shauna Shames quoted on the reasons young people don't want to run for office in Susan Milligan, "Reluctant to Serve" U.S. News and World Report, October 16, 2015.
Shauna Shames's research on the partisan gender gap in Congress discussed in Derek Willis. Shauna Shames, "G.O.P. Women in Congress: Why So Few?," New York Times, June 1, 2015.
Shauna Shames quoted on lack of interest in campaigning for a legislative job in Robin Mary, "Why Don't Millenials Want to Run for Office?" Care2, February 27, 2015.
Shauna Shames's research on social science as not inclusive toward women discussed in Danielle Bruno. Shauna Shames, "Rutgers Professor Finds Gender Inequality Prevalent in Field of Political Science," Daily Targum, February 27, 2015.
"Millennials Don’t Want to Run for Office," Shauna Shames, The Washington Post, February 24, 2015.
Shauna Shames quoted on the lack of female political donors in Rebecca Traister, "Why are There No Female Sheldon Adelsons?" New Republic, July 23, 2014.
"Too Few Women Seek Elected Office," Shauna Shames (with Pamela O'Leary), The Sunday Dispatch, November 24, 2013.
"JFK, a Pioneer in the Women's Movement," Shauna Shames (with Pamela O'Leary), Los Angeles Times, November 22, 2013.
"Learning from a ‘C’," Shauna Shames, Harvard Crimson, September 29, 2011.