Lori Cox Han, Ph.D.
lhan@chapman.edu
Full Professor
Chapman University
Year of PhD: 1997
Phone: (714) 744-7614
Address: 1 University Drive
City: Orange, California - 92866
Country: United States
About Me:
Lori Cox Han is Professor of Political Science and Doy B. Henley Endowed Chair in American Presidential Studies at Chapman University. Her research and teaching expertise include the presidency, women and politics, media and politics, and political leadership. She is the author of numerous books, including Advising Nixon: The White House Memos of Patrick J. Buchanan (University Press of Kansas, 2019); Presidents and the American Presidency, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2018); Women, Power, and Politics: The Fight for Gender Equality in the United States (Oxford University Press, 2018); In It to Win: Electing Madam President (Bloomsbury, 2015); and A Presidency Upstaged: The Public Leadership of George H. W. Bush (Texas A&M University Press, 2011). She is also the editor of several scholarly volumes, including Madam President? Gender and Politics on the Road to the White House (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2020); Hatred of America’s Presidents: Personal Attacks on the White House from Washington to Trump (ABC-CLIO, 2018); and New Directions in the American Presidency, 2nd ed. (Routledge, 2018). Her research has been published in PS: Political Science & Politics, American Politics Research, Presidential Studies Quarterly, and Congress and the Presidency. Dr. Han is past president of Presidents and Executive Politics, an organized section of the American Political Science Association devoted to the study of the presidency, and she has also served as a member of the national executive board of Pi Sigma Alpha, the national Political Science honor society. She received her PhD in Political Science from the University of Southern California.
Research Interests
American Presidency And Executive Politics
Gender and Politics
Political Communication
Presidential Communication
Women Presidential Candidates
Countries of Interest
United States
Publications:
Journal Articles:
The study of women and US politics, as well as the role that gender plays in the broader political context, represents a significant contribution to the discipline of political science. Undergraduate courses on women/gender and politics continue to evolve as more innovative pedagogical approaches emerge. We considered the current trends and challenges related to teaching an undergraduate women/gender and politics course within political science. Through a survey of instructors, we assessed contemporary pedagogical approaches that reflect common learning outcomes, instructional resources that are available to undergraduate instructors, and challenges that instructors face in both offering and teaching this course. We found that institutions generally consider women/gender and politics courses to be tertiary parts of the curriculum and that a majority of faculty who teach these courses face pushback from students in ways that dismiss the importance of studying gender as a variable in political science.
Political campaigns are often likened to a game typified by conflict. We consider whether using a conflict frame visually emphasizing the contested aspect of partisanship affects candidate support in the 2016 presidential election. Using a nationwide survey experiment (N = 975) that randomly assigns participants to different visual frames depicting politics as conflictual or process-based, we find that participants exposed to the conflict frame show significantly higher odds of supporting Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, while rejecting Hillary Clinton. The conflicting frame also increases self-reported participant anger, which decomposition analysis shows increases support for Trump and Sanders while decreasing it for Clinton (and that we offer as a preliminary finding). Avenues for future research are then considered.
Books Written:
Scholars and pundits alike have spent more than a little time speculating about why Hillary Clinton lost the presidency to Donald Trump in 2016. Their conclusions may differ, but few would disagree that Clinton's nomination by a major party changed the political landscape in significant ways―nor that the results of the 2016 election provoked a large number of women to run for office at all levels of government. The genie is out of the bottle. In this context, the authors of Madam President? critically analyze the barriers facing women on the road to the White House―from gender stereotyping to biased media coverage, the conflation of masculinity and the presidency, gendered conceptions of leadership, and more.
In 1966 Richard Nixon hired Patrick J. Buchanan, a young editorial writer at the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, to help lay the groundwork for his presidential campaign. Fiercely conservative and a whiz at messaging and media strategy, Buchanan continued with Nixon through his tenure in office, becoming one of the president’s most important and trusted advisors, particularly on public matters. The copious memos he produced over this period, counseling the president on press relations, policy positions, and political strategy, provide a remarkable behind-the-scenes look into the workings of the Nixon White House—and a uniquely informed perspective on the development and deployment of ideas and practices that would forever change presidential conduct and US politics. Of the thousand housed at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, presidential scholar Lori Cox Han has judiciously selected 135 of Buchanan’s memos that best exemplify the significant nature and reach of his influence in the Nixon administration. Here, in his now-familiar take-no-prisoners style, Buchanan can be seen advancing his deeply conservative agenda, counterpunching against advisors he considered too moderate, and effectively guiding the president and his administration through a changing, often hostile political environment. On every point of policy and political issue—foreign and domestic—through two successful campaigns, Nixon’s first term, and the fraught months surrounding the Watergate debacle, Buchanan presses his advantage, all the while honing the message that would push conservatism ever rightward in the following years. Expertly edited and annotated by Han, Advising Nixon: The White House Memos of Patrick J. Buchanan offers rare insight into the decision-making and maneuvering of some of the most powerful figures in government—with lasting consequences for American public life.
The book focuses on the most representative and commonplace attacks of a vitriolic and personal nature, detailing who instigated and trafficked in the attacks and how presidents, administrations, and political parties defended themselves. It also illustrates how honest disagreements about policy—such as FDR's New Deal, Ronald Reagan's Central America policies, George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq, and Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act—fueled expressions of hatred and condemnation. Finally, the book includes perspectives from both the right and the left on the legitimacy of these attacks and the victims' defenses as well as their impact on American politics and policy.
An exploration of both the political institution and those who have held the office. Considering both the strengths and the weaknesses of the office, this book moves beyond purely theoretical analysis to examine the real-life, day-to-day responsibilities and challenges of the presidency. It incorporates archival documents from multiple administrations, offers extensive coverage of methodology, and integrates both institutional and president-centered approaches.
A comprehensive assessment of women in American politics., this book [provides a timely and engaging analysis of classic and contemporary gender-related issues, focusing on the role of women as active participants in government and the public policies that affect women in their daily lives.
This edited volume takes a current look at the various issues facing the contemporary presidency and provides a "state of the art" overview of current trends in the field of presidency research.
When will the United States elect its first woman president? Just how close are we to breaking this final political glass ceiling? By merging the two literatures of women and politics (especially women as candidates) and presidential campaigns and elections, a winning strategy for women candidates can emerge by analyzing what political science research tells us from past campaigns and what we can expect in the future.
Media Appearances:
TV Appearances:
Several live interviews about US Capitol riots and Trump impeachment.
Story on Joe Biden's potential running mate
Interview about President Trump's fundraising visit to Orange County
Interview about the legacy of George H. W. Bush
Interview about the first year of the Trump presidency.
Discussion of "In It to Win: Electing Madam President" for Book TV
Radio Appearances:
Story about Melania Trump's redesign of the White House Rose Garden
Interview about fundraising and media ad buys for presidential campaign
Newspaper Quotes:
Story about candidate spouses on the campaign trail
Story about the White House Rose Garden
Story about Melania Trump's RNC speech
Interview about Trump's White House communication strategy
Quoted regularly in stories about national, state, and local politics
Story about Trump White House
Story about first year of Trump presidency
Stories about 2016 Senate race in California
Other:
Online story about the Trump presidency
Stories about the Trump presidency
Presidential scholars weigh in on Obama legacy
Analysis of Ivanka Trump's role in White House