Why the US is lagging behind other countries when it comes to women in elected office and what can be done about it.

The United States has a poor track record of electing women to political office. The US is tied with Turkmenistan for 67th place, according to the Inter Parliamentary Union’s survey of women in national parliaments. The hope of adding more women fizzled even further in 2010, when the number of women in Congress fell from 90 to 88, the first decline in decades. Women fared even worse in state legislatures - 81 lost their seats.

More concerning than this recent dip is the fact that the number of women in American politics has flat-lined for decades. The problem, however, isn’t that women aren’t winning elections, it’s that they aren’t running. Studies show that women are more prone to seeing the hurdles rather than the benefits of a political career -- the intense media scrutiny and the concern for family members, particularly children. Moreover, in the past few years women thinking about public service have often referenced concern about the partisan and negative tone of campaigns and public debate.

But none of those are the biggest problem. According to research conducted by Rutgers' Center for American Women and Politics, women are less likely to be asked to run for office in the numbers that men are. The gender gap in recruitment has contributed to the gender gap in the candidate pool.

Tackling this recruitment gender gap is The 2012 Project, a national nonpartisan campaign in partnership with CAWP at Rutgers. The campaign takes recruitment to a new level by looking for women out of the traditional pipeline and women who may never have considered politics. These women, a previously untapped talent pool, are poised to be successful candidates but may need to be recruited directly to run.

The campaign functions as a matchmaker. Our faculty of former elected women legislators shares the facts about women's under-representation and the many benefits of public service. “We inspire women to step forward, learn about what they’ve done, and connect them with fundraising networks and think tanks. We identify them, and then we hand them off," explains Mary Hughes, the founder of The 2012 Project.

The election of 2012 presents a once-in-a-decade opportunity for women to increase their numbers in office. Following the 2010 census, every congressional and state legislative district in the country is being redrawn, and new and open seats will be created. Reapportionment creates opportunity, and research shows that women have more success winning open seats.

Women hold 17 percent of congressional seats, just six of 50 governorships and not even a quarter of state legislative posts. We have yet to break the 25 percent barrier at any level, let alone achieve parity for a group that’s more than half the U.S. population. The 2012 Project understands the urgency and the opportunity of the next election cycle. Consider this an invitation to help find great women -- or step forward yourself and run.

M. Doolan blogs for The 2012 Project. She is an associate with Hughes & Company, a political consulting firm in Palo Alto, California. Before moving into politics, Doolan was a radio and television reporter. She holds a Master’s in politics and communication from the London School of Economics.