A House Divided: Donald Trump and the Transformation of American Politics

2021 ◽  
pp. 161-187
Author(s):  
Sebastião C. Velasco e Cruz
Keyword(s):  
American Politics ◽  
Donald Trump

Putting Donald Trump in Historical Perspective

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doug McAdam
Keyword(s):  
Republican Party ◽  
American Politics ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Racial Politics ◽  
American Democracy ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
And Behavior

The tumultuous onset of Donald Trump’s administration has so riveted public attention that observers are in danger of losing a historical perspective. Trump’s rhetoric and behavior are so extreme that the tendency is to see him and the divisions he embodies as something new in American politics. Instead, Trump is only the most extreme expression of a brand of racial politics practiced ever more brazenly by the Republican Party since the 1960s. His unexpected rise to power was aided by a number of institutional developments in American politics that also have older roots. In the spirit of trying to understand these historical forces, the chapter describes (a) the origins and evolution of the exclusionary brand of racial politics characteristic of the Republican Party since the 1960s, and (b) three illiberal institutions that aided Trump’s rise to power, and that, if left unchanged, will continue to threaten the survival of American democracy.

scholarly journals Make Canada Great Again: The Influence of Donald Trump on the Canadian Right Wing Identity

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Parul Singh Kanwar
Keyword(s):  
American Politics ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact

This essay examines how the election of Donald Trump and the Ring Wing sentiments in American politics affect the Right-Wing extremist identity in Canada. This is significant because, through an analysis of the impact of American politics and identity on Canadians and their experiences as Anti-American, with focus on superiority and multiculturalism. 

scholarly journals The Trump Presidency and the Structure of Modern American Politics

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (02) ◽  
pp. 340-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Byron E. Shafer ◽  
Regina L. Wagner
Keyword(s):  
American Politics ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Bill Clinton ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Postwar Period ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Substantive Content ◽  
Ideological Polarization ◽  
Policy Making Process

How much of politics is specific to its actors and how much is the reflection of an established structure is a perennial concern of political analysts, one that becomes especially intense with the candidacy and then the presidency of Donald Trump. In order to have a template for assigning the outcomes of politics to structure rather than idiosyncrasy, we begin with party balance, ideological polarization, substantive content, and a resulting process of policy-making drawn from the immediate postwar period. The analysis then jumps forward with that same template to the modern world, dropping first the Trump candidacy and then the Trump presidency into this framework. What emerges is a modern electoral world with increased prospects for what might be called off-diagonal candidacies and a policy-making process that gathers Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump together as the modern presidents.

Final Jeopardy

2019 ◽  
pp. 212-234
Author(s):  
Mike Miley
Keyword(s):  
American Politics ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Game Show ◽  
American Life

This final chapter discusses how the election of Donald Trump to the presidency alters the importance and influence of game shows on American life. The chapter examines works by Chuck Barris, Donald Barthelme, Max Apple, Philip K. Dick, and Jonathan Lethem to explore whether America will ever be free from the game show’s grasp, and how citizens can take control of the Land of the Game Show if escape is impossible. The chapter argues that resistance comes in the form of challenging the increasing triviality of American politics, encouraging readers to demand meaningful exchanges.

Conclusion

Never Trump ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 240-248
Author(s):  
Robert P. Saldin ◽  
Steven M. Teles
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
American Politics ◽  
Western World ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
New Era ◽  
Professional Interest ◽  
The Future ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Right

This concluding chapter highlights how the Republican Party has been substantially transformed by the experience of having Donald Trump at its head. The president's reelection in 2020 would only deepen that transformation. Deep sociological forces—in particular, a Republican Party base that is increasingly white, working class, Christian, less formally educated, and older—will lead the party to go where its voters are. What Trump started, his Republican successors will finish. Just as parties of the right across the Western world have become more populist and nationalist, so will the Republicans. That, of course, bodes poorly for most of the Never Trumpers, who combined a deep distaste for Trump personally with a professional interest in a less populist governing style and a disinclination to see their party go ideologically where he wanted to take it. Ultimately, the future is unwritten because it will be shaped by the choices of individuals. Never Trump will have failed comprehensively in its founding mission, which was to prevent the poison of Donald Trump from entering the nation's political bloodstream. However, it is likely to be seen, in decades to come, as the first foray into a new era of American politics.

Facts or Feelings?

2021 ◽  
pp. 208-226
Author(s):  
Jacob William Justice
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
American Politics ◽  
Expert Consensus ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Rational Argument ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cast Doubt ◽  
Human Decision ◽  
Social Intuitionist Model

The social intuitionist model has significant implications for the study of communication. Specifically, this chapter argues that the social intuitionist model reveals the limitations of rational argument and illustrates factors contributing to misinformation. This argument is developed through a series of four observations. First, communicators have attempted to combat misinformation through rational argument. Second, centuries of interdisciplinary insights revealing the intuitive nature of human decision-making cast doubt on strategies that appeal to audiences primarily through facts and reason. Third, application of the social intuitionist model to contemporary American politics can help explain several puzzling dynamics, including the appeal of Donald Trump and the persistence of misinformation. Fourth, communication scholarship can be improved through greater recognition of the influence of intuition upon decision-making. This chapter concludes by proposing ways that emotional narratives can be used to bridge gaps between public opinion and expert consensus.

scholarly journals Local demographic changes and US presidential voting, 2012 to 2016

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (50) ◽  
pp. 25023-25028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth J. Hill ◽  
Daniel J. Hopkins ◽  
Gregory A. Huber
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Demographic Change ◽  
American Politics ◽  
Presidential Candidate ◽  
Demographic Changes ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Do So

Immigration and demographic change have become highly salient in American politics, partly because of the 2016 campaign of Donald Trump. Previous research indicates that local influxes of immigrants or unfamiliar ethnic groups can generate threatened responses, but has either focused on nonelectoral outcomes or analyzed elections in large geographic units, such as counties. Here, we examine whether demographic changes at low levels of aggregation were associated with vote shifts toward an anti-immigration presidential candidate between 2012 and 2016. To do so, we compile a precinct-level dataset of election results and demographic measures for almost 32,000 precincts in the states of Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington. We employ regression analyses varying model specifications and measures of demographic change. Our estimates uncover little evidence that influxes of Hispanics or noncitizen immigrants benefited Trump relative to past Republicans, instead consistently showing that such changes were associated with shifts to Trump’s opponent.

Almost “Nothing New Under the Sun”: American politics and the election of Donald Trump

Leadership ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
George R Goethals
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
American Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Popular Vote ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Electoral Vote ◽  
The Social ◽  
Large Factor ◽  
2016 Election ◽  
Implicit And Explicit

Donald Trump’s surprising 2016 election as President of the United States was unusual both in the set of states he won and in clearly winning the electoral vote while decisively losing the popular vote. His victory is somewhat less surprising given recent Republican domination of American politics, a context which provides Trump both leadership opportunities and constraints. A large factor in Trump’s rise is the leader–follower dynamics of crowds, seen throughout time, which enabled him to win an uncritical and devoted following. An important part of that dynamic was Trump’s validation of the social identity of the white working class in the United States, especially in comparison to Hillary Clinton’s both implicit and explicit denigration of that base of Trump support. Trump’s identity story for his base is unusually exclusive, highlighted by ingroup vs. outgroup hostility. His appeal is compared to inclusive identity stories successfully related by other US presidents, which suggest how future leaders might effectively touch “the better angels of our nature.”

Sovereign Bodies: Native Nations, Native American Women, and the Politics of 2018

2020 ◽  
pp. 106591292091330
Author(s):  
Gabriel R. Sanchez ◽  
Raymond Foxworth ◽  
Laura E. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
American Politics ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
The Political ◽  
Native American Women ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
American Women ◽  
Racial Identities ◽  
Nationally Representative

What did Native American women and men voters think about Donald Trump on the eve of the 2018 election? This question has important implications for understanding the gendered political attitudes of peoples adversely targeted by Trump’s politics. To examine this issue, we analyze a path-breaking, nationally representative sample of six hundred Native American voters. We find that Native Americans’ attitudes about sexual harassment are central to their attitudes about politics and policy in the Trump era. This relationship suggests that Native American voters are an informed electorate influenced by the president’s words and actions. Our work demonstrates multiple ways that gender influenced Native American politics during an election where gender and racial identities were central. In so doing, our work illuminates how race, institutions, and vulnerability affect the political attitudes of Native American voters, one of the least studied groups in American politics.

The Legacy of Rush Limbaugh Will Always Be Tied to Donald Trump

The Forum ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 439-458
Author(s):  
Ian Reifowitz
Keyword(s):  
Identity Politics ◽  
American Politics ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
Popular Vote ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
President Obama ◽  
White House ◽  
Essential Question ◽  
Black President ◽  
Conservative Media

Abstract This article explores Rush Limbaugh’s efforts to tribalize American politics through his racially divisive, falsehood-ridden portrayal of President Obama. By playing and preying on white anxiety, the host laid the groundwork for the election of a president who essentially adopted his view of the Obama presidency. Limbaugh’s rhetoric about Obama serves as a case study whereby the most influential part of the conservative media during those years represents the whole. “How did we get here?” is the essential question right now in American politics. How did we go from a society that relatively easily elected Barack Obama twice to one that, popular vote loss aside, elected Donald Trump, and came within a small popular vote shift in three states from doing so again in 2020? Analyzing how Limbaugh ginned up white racial anxiety about a Black president helps us understand the rise of Trump, who began his White House campaign by serving as the nation’s birther-in-chief and who, in his reaction to the white nationalist terrorist attack in Charlottesville, Virginia, to name just one example, demonstrated his reliance on white identity politics. As Jamelle Bouie wrote: “You can draw a direct line to the rise of Trump from the racial hysteria of talk radio—where Rush Limbaugh, a Trump booster, warned that Obama would turn the world upside down.”

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