Welcome to the Department of Political Science
Sanbonmatsu, Kira
- Kira Sanbonmatsu
- Professor, Senior Scholar, Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics
- Subfield: American Politics, Women & Politics, Race and Ethnicity Politics
- Office: Hickman Hall - 609
- Phone: 848-932-8798
- Click for Website
- Click for CV
- Graduate Content:
- Program in American Politics
- Program in Women and Politics
- Race and Ethnicity Politics
- Bio:
Kira Sanbonmatsu is Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University and Senior Scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at the Eagleton Institute of Politics. Her research interests include gender, race/ethnicity, parties, public opinion, state politics, and money and politics. She leads CAWP’s Women, Money, and Politics project. Her most recent book, coauthored with Kelly Dittmar and Susan J. Carroll, is A Seat at the Table: Congresswomen's Perspectives on Why Their Presence Matters (Oxford University Press, 2018). She is also the coauthor (with Susan J. Carroll) of More Women Can Run: Gender and Pathways to the State Legislatures (Oxford University Press, 2013). Sanbonmatsu coauthored the CAWP reports Representation Matters: Women in the U.S. Congress (2017) and Poised to Run: Women's Pathways to the State Legislatures (2009). She is the author of Where Women Run: Gender and Party in the American States (University of Michigan Press, 2006) and Democrats, Republicans, and the Politics of Women's Place (University of Michigan Press, 2002). Her articles have appeared in such journals as Political Research Quarterly and Politics, Groups, and Identities. She co-edits the CAWP Series in Gender and American Politics at the University of Michigan Press with Susan J. Carroll. Sanbonmatsu received her B.A. from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and her Ph.D. from Harvard University.
- Teaching:
Women and American Politics 790:335, 988:336
Gender and American Politics 790:689
Gender, Race, and the American Party System 790:689
Political Science Events
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2026 Political Science PhD Admitted Student Visit Day Rutgers University
- Information
- March 24, 2026
- 10:00 AM EDT - 6:00 PM EDT
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Undergraduate Research Symposium
- Information
- April 07, 2026
- 5:30 PM EDT - 7:10 PM EDT
UNMA Events
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Ask Me Anything - Information for Prospective UNMA Students
- Information
- March 17, 2026
- 1:00 PM EDT
- Register - Ask Me Anything - Information for Prospective UNMA Students
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Ask Me Anything - Information for Prospective UNMA Students
- Information
- March 30, 2026
- 6:00 PM EDT
- Register - Ask Me Anything - Information for Prospective UNMA Students
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Alumni Reports from the Siege of Minneapolis
- Information
- April 01, 2026
- 4:00 PM EDT - 5:30 PM EDT
- Register - Alumni Reports from the Siege of Minneapolis
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Pizza & PoliSci: Explore the MA in Political Science, UN and Global Policy Studies Program
- Information
- April 09, 2026
- 4:00 PM EDT - 5:30 PM EDT
- Register - Pizza & PoliSci: Explore the MA in Political Science, UN and Global Policy Studies Program
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Ask Me Anything - Information for Prospective UNMA Students
- Information
- April 24, 2026
- 12:00 PM EDT
- Register - Ask Me Anything - Information for Prospective UNMA Students
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Ask Me Anything - Information for Prospective UNMA Students
- Information
- May 15, 2026
- 10:00 AM EDT
- Register - Ask Me Anything - Information for Prospective UNMA Students
Faculty Events
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Pi Sigma Alpha Induction Ceremony
- Information
- March 25, 2026
- 4:00 PM EDT - 5:30 PM EDT
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Advisory and Personnel meetings
- Information
- April 07, 2026
- 10:30 AM EDT
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Advisory and Personnel meetings
- Information
- April 07, 2026
- 10:30 AM EDT


