Donna R. Hoffman

Donna R. Hoffman is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Northern Iowa. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma, where her research focuses on presidential-congressional relations; presidential rhetoric; realignment theory; social and political change in the American electorate; southern politics; art, politics and culture. She is the co-author of Addressing the State of the Union: The Evolution and Impact of the President’s Big Speech (Lynne Rienner Publishers 2006). Other research has appeared in Political Research Quarterly, American Behavioral Scientist, Social Science Quarterly, and PS: Political Science and Politics. Professor Hoffman’s research on presidential rhetoric examines the way that presidents communicate their policy agendas with both Congress and the public, especially through State of the Union addresses. Her work on electoral politics examines changes in the partisan composition of the American electorate.

Professor Hoffman is a frequent commentator on the Iowa Caucuses, electoral politics in Iowa, and the State of the Union Address. She has been interviewed by the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Time Magazine, Bloomberg News, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Campaigns & Elections, The Associated Press, Jiji Press (Japan), YLE Finnish Broadcasting Company; WHJJ Radio (Providence, RI), Houston Chronicle, Hartford Courant, Florida Times Union (Jacksonville), and The Des Moines Register.