Theodore J. Lowi First Book Award, jointly awarded by the American Political Science Association and International Political Science Association.
Richard F. Fenno Jr. Prize for Best Book in Legislative Studies Section of the American Political Science Association
Don T. Nakanishi Award for Distinguished Scholarship and Service in Asian Pacific American Politics
“Phillips’ emphasis on Latinas and Asian American women, extensive data collection, and deft analysis make this an important contribution to scholars and practitioners alike.”—Celeste Montoya, University of Colorado Boulder.
“Phillips brings a fresh perspective to understanding candidate emergence, making the case that its far more than ambition we should care about by focusing our attention on the limited opportunity structures for women of color candidates.”—Wendy Smooth, The Ohio State University
“Nowhere to Run is an impressive and comprehensive collection of data and analysis that describes the barriers and opportunities for Asian American men and women and Latino and Latina candidates in state elections.”—Helen Iris Torres, Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE)
Nowhere to Run: Race, Gender and Immigration in American Elections provides an intersectional explanation for why women and racial minorities’ underrepresentation in elected office has proved so persistent. This includes the first simultaneous analysis of the relationship between racial group size and descriptive representation for African American, Asian American, Latina/o and White women and men, and a national study of the emergence of Latina/os and Asian American women and men as state legislative candidates.
The book draws on interviews and surveys with candidates, donors and other political elites from across the country, as well as original data on candidates and districts from every state legislative general election for nearly two decades. Using these new data, Nowhere to Run documents how overlapping and interactive constraints on electoral opportunities for candidates of color, particularly women of color, drive a descriptive disconnect between elected officials and a rapidly changing American population.
The analysis demonstrates that many factors in elections that have long been treated as exclusively “racial” or “gendered” are, in fact, shaped by race and gender simultaneously. It reveals why majority minority districts are an important, but limited tool for expanding representation, particularly for women of color. These districts are vital opportunities, but are also relatively few in number and often encompass male-dominated networks that tend to push women to the margins. Additionally, by showing that ties to family, home and community both limit, and facilitate, the political leadership of women and men in different ways across racial groups, the book highlights the pitfalls of a one-size-fits-all approach to diversifying the candidate pipeline.
As a first of its kind study of the roles that race and gender play in elections, and how they may be changing as immigrants become a larger part of the population, Nowhere to Run sheds new light on the ways in which multiple dimensions of identity simultaneously shape pathways to candidacy and representation, for all groups seeking a seat at the table in American politics.