Amaya Gaines

Amaya M. Gaines is a 2026 Summer Research Intern with the North Carolina Budget & Tax Center and a fourth-year doctoral student at Cornell University's Brooks School of Public Policy, with a disciplinary emphasis on Government. Broadly, her research examines American politics, public policy, and political economy, with attention to how the politics of public policy shape market inequalities along the lines of race, gender, and class. Her work explores how Americans make sense of politics through identity and lived experience, including economic precarity and inequality, and how these interpretations inform policy preferences, attitudes toward government, and perceptions of democratic responsiveness. She uses mixed-methods research, primarily combining survey research and qualitative analysis, to better understand policy problems and their implications for governance. Amaya is committed to producing research that is accessible and engages both within and beyond academia