Thanks to the publisher for allowing me to read a review copy!

It took me a while to read this one because I was honestly a bit unsure if this was going to be a fair and academic portrayal of why "Millennials" (I absolutely loathe this word so much. I'm going to use A40 for "young adults to around age 40). aren't going into politics or a "They're at fault for all the things", like killing the diamond, napkin or fabric softener industry (yes, these newspaper articles exist...).

In fact, this book offers an in-depth study of why A40s often don't go into politics, backed up by empirical data, and the results make sense: politics favours white, cis-heterosexual, wealthy men. The top 3 universities are studied by Shames and it makes sense that white women and BIPOC seldom take the step from uni to politics because most are still barred from entering these Ivy Leagues, especially BIPOC!
Summarising the contributing factors are: gender, race and sexuality discrimination, poverty, lack of job security and lack of privacy. Not a surprising results because to do politics you usually already need money and connections to get ahead and marginalised communities lack these backups.
Certainly, women of colour, especially Black women, face the worst discrimination with high risk and low reward because of intersectionality that discriminates them based on their gender AND race, despite being one of the most prolific political activists and thinkers, leading social justice movements for over a century.

I can speak for myself but all of the reasons above contribute to the fact why I used to not want to run for office (I don't live in the US). I come form an immigrant family, I live(d) in poverty, as a woman I face gender discrimination, I've worked hard in my field but never had a steady contract or job, etc.

Summarising, the book covers a lot of ground and explains why and how A40s aren't going into politics, showing that structural problems are a root cause and because A40s have realised the difficulty of getting into office, many refuse a job in politics and focus on activism.
Funnily enough, Shames worked on this book since 2012 and it was published in 2017 and... a lot has changed since the 2016 elections. There are more young adults entering politics than ever. Despite the harrowing situation and the rise of fascists, we have seen A40s refusing to give up to right-wing terrorism and enter into politics to create a new system to protect the people.
It wasn't lethargy that stopped us going into politics, it was desperation and hopelessness, knowing that the chance of making it and actually achieving change were slim. But seeing how right-wingers are rising up and attacking marginalised communities has awakened a need to act.
So, in a sense, Shames was absolutely right in that disenfranchisement, racism, misogyny and poverty lead to A40s not entering politics. But seeing the real threat on the lives of millions has awakened our fire passion to protect the vulnerable. And I'm proud for every person entering politics and activism.

All in all, an illuminating read. I would love to see more from Shames about the development after 2016.

A fascinating look at why Millennials aren’t entering politics and what this means for the future of America’s political system.

Shauna Shames’, a political scientist, research includes interviews with graduate students in Universities that have previously been stepping stones for people entering elected office; Harvard Law, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and Boston’s Suffolk University Law School.

Shames argues young people are not disinterested in politics, they no longer see it as the best way of making the changes they want. Out of the Running also explores the additional barriers that women and people of colour face when entering politics.