Experts

Jennifer Lawless

Faculty Senior Fellow
UVA+CV+-+Jennifer+Lawless.pdf

Fast Facts

  • Chair, UVA Department of Politics
  • Author or co-author of six books
  • Editor of the American Journal of Political Science
  • Expertise on women and politics, campaigns and elections, political media

Areas Of Expertise

  • Domestic Affairs
  • Media and the Press
  • Governance
  • Elections
  • Politics

Jennifer L. Lawless is the Leone Reaves and George W. Spicer Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia and chair of the UVA Department of Politics. She is also has affiliations with UVA’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Miller Center.

Her research focuses on political ambition, campaigns and elections, and media and politics. Her most recent book, News Hole: The Demise of Local Journalism and Political Engagement, won the Harvard Shorenstein Center 2023 Goldsmith Prize for Best Academic Book. Lawless is also the author or co-author of seven other books, including Women on the Run: Gender, Media, and Political Campaigns in a Polarized Era (with Danny Hayes) and It Still Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office (with Richard L. Fox). Her research, which has been supported by the National Science Foundation, has appeared in numerous academic journals and is regularly cited in the popular press.

Lawless is the co-editor in chief of the American Journal of Political Science. She graduated from Union College with a BA in political science and Stanford University with an MA and PhD in political science. In 2006, she sought the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives in Rhode Island’s second congressional district. Although she lost the race, she remains an obsessive political junkie.

Featured Publications

News Hole
News Hole: The Demise of Local Journalism and Political Engagement

Jennifer Lawless (co-author)

Women Men
Women, Men & US Politics: 10 Big Questions

Jennifer Lawless

Women on the Run
Women on the Run

Jennifer Lawless

Running From Office
Running From Office

Jennifer Lawless

Becoming a Candidate
Becoming a Candidate

Jennifer Lawless

It Still Takes a Candidate
It Still Takes a Candidate

Jennifer Lawless

It Takes a Candidate
It Takes a Candidate

Jennifer Lawless

Jennifer Lawless News Feed

The Hill
Jill Biden picks up where she left off
“The country is facing a series of crises simultaneously,” said Jennifer Lawless, professor of politics at the University of Virginia. “In a lot of ways, she has to be the first lady times two just because the environment is so much more difficult than it has been for the last 100 years.”
Jennifer Lawless The Hill
Irish Times
First lady Jill Biden: A passionate educator seeking to break barriers
Jennifer Lawless, a politics professor at University of Virginia, said Dr Biden will “knock down a glass ceiling” for first ladies and, along with Kamala Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, who is leaving his job to become America’s first ever second gentleman, represents an evolution of US politics. “This is the first time that we’re seeing somebody say, ‘You know what? My previous life is important too and I’m not going to define myself entirely based on my husband’s job’,” she said.
Jennifer Lawless The Irish Times
The Guardian
History-maker Kamala Harris will wield real power as vice-president
Jennifer Lawless, a politics professor at the University of Virginia, said Harris’s pivotal role in the Senate will mean she “is going to be cast in a very different light than previous vice-presidents” and will make her crucial in terms of putting forward a legislative agenda.
Jennifer Lawless The Guardian
HuffPost
The End Of The Pussy-Grabbing President
“Donald Trump did the opposite of coming full circle,” said Jennifer Lawless, a political science professor at the University of Virginia. “He was an insecure businessman who made himself feel powerful by demeaning women. He was an insecure president who claimed victory every time he chipped away at diversity, inclusion, and equity. And he’s an insecure soon-to-be former president whose remarks make it clear that he believes women are too weak to be patriots.”
Jennifer Lawless HuffPost
BYU Radio
Bipartisan Election Class
Anymore these days, it’s hard for people on opposite ends of the political spectrum to talk civilly about American politics. So the cards were stacked against Jennifer Lawless–a democratic candidate for Congress and board member of Planned Parenthood–and Mary Kate Cary–who worked as a speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush and communications director for the Republican National Committee–when they signed up to co-teach a course about the 2020 election at the University of Virginia.
Jennifer Lawless BYU Radio
Newsweek
Raphael Warnock, Jon Ossoff's Georgia Wins Raise Progressive Hopes of Shaping Biden Agenda
With Warnock and Ossoff now heading to the Senate, many progressives are hopeful that their wins will grant Democrats a smooth path forward in implementing a more left-leaning agenda. But during a recent conversation with Newsweek, Jennifer Lawless, a professor of politics at the University of Virginia, said the reality likely won't be as clear-cut. With narrow majorities in the House and Senate, Democratic leaders will have to strike a balance between securing legislative victories and avoiding alienating the more moderate members of their party.
Jennifer Lawless Newsweek