Dr. Melinda Kovacs, Ph.D.

A native of Hungary and a Rutgers Ph.D. in political science, Kovacs is an expert on political discourse and political meanings. Her first book is Magyars and Political Meanings (Lexington Books) and addresses how the changing meanings in Hungary made that country's move away from democracy possible. Her second book, also with Lexington Books, is Foreign Policy Discourses of the Obama Administration. It further examines how discourse makes policy plausible and therefore possible. Her current book project is a collaboration with Linda Oakleaf and investigates politics, leisure and Trumpism, as elements of current American culture. A resident of St Joseph, Missouri, Kovacs frequently appears on the local ABC and FOX affiliated to provide political analysis on local news shows.