Professor
PGH 393
713-743-3925
bjrottinghaus@uh.edu

Research Interests

Presidency (leadership, nominations)
Texas politics
Public opinion
Political communication
Executive-legislative relations
Political scandal

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Biographical Summary

Brandon Rottinghaus is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Houston.  He holds a Ph.D. in political science from Northwestern University.  His teaching and research interests include the presidency, political scandals, public opinion, and Texas politics. He is the author of the books Inside Texas Politics, Current Debates in the Lone Star State, Inside American Government (all Oxford University Press), Rick Perry:  A Political Life (University of Texas Press), and Scandal:  How Politicians Survive Controversy in a Polarized Era (Columbia University Press).  He is the co-director of the Presidential Greatness Project.  He is the co-host of Party Politics, a PBS TV8 program, radio show, and podcast on Houston Public Media, a political analyst for KHOU 11 in Houston, and the creator and host of Texperts, a political primer podcast and radio segment on Hello Houston on Houston Public Media.  

Education

Ph.D., Northwestern University
M.A., Northwestern University
B.A., Purdue University

Selected Publications

Inside Texas Politics: Politics, Policy and Personality in the Lone Star State (2015). Oxford University Press.

The Institutional Effects of Executive Scandal (2015). New York: Cambridge University Press.

The Provisional Pulpit: Modern Presidential Leadership of Public Opinion (2010). (Joseph V. Hughes Jr. and Holly O. Hughes Series in the Presidency and Leadership). College Station: Texas A&M University Press.

“Assessing the Unilateral Presidency: Constraints and Contingencies.” Congress & The Presidency, Fall 2015.  Edited from a conference hosted at UH.

“Skeletons in the White House Closets: An Empirical Investigation into Modern Presidential Scandals.” (2012).  Political Science Quarterly 127 (2): 213-239.  With Scott Basinger.

“Stonewalling: Explaining Presidential Behavior During Scandal.” (2012).  Political Research Quarterly 65(2): 290-302. With Scott Basinger.

"The Politics of Requesting Appointments: Congressional Requests in the Appointment and Nomination Process." (2011).  Political Research Quarterly 64 (1): 31-44.  With Dan Bergan