Donald Trump and American Populism
Dissects the populist leadership style of President Donald Trump
- Places Trump’s presidential leadership style within a comparative historical and political development theoretical framework
- Considers Trump’s use of social media as a form of public politics that represents an adaptation of presidential communication style to new technology while rebuffing the traditional bully pulpit
- Assesses the impact of Trump’s negative rhetoric and efforts to challenge – if not delegitimise – those who criticise him: national institutions such as the Courts and Congress, the media and his political opponents
- Employs case studies to weigh Trump’s political strategy, from mobilising grassroots support to foreign diplomacy
Richard S. Conley connects Donald Trump's populist style to his predecessors. Trump’s method of communication through social media obviously differs from previous candidates and presidents with populist platforms, but his themes – a disdain for elites, grassroots support, majoritarianism, anti-intellectual discourse and nativism – borrow variably from such figures as Andrew Jackson, Huey Long, Barry Goldwater and Ross Perot. As such, Trump’s approach to governance falls within a long tradition of populism dating to the 19th Century.
- Populist Disrupter-in-Chief
- The Populist Precedent
- The Roots of Trump’s Populism
- 2016. Year of the Populists
- The Populist-Elect and the Permanent Campaign
- The Populist as Policymaker
- The Populist in Peril
- Epilogue. Quo Vadis?
Bibliography
Scholars will try to make sense of President Trump for decades to come. Marrying populist theory with well-established theories of the American Presidency, Richard Conley’s keen analysis and insights help us make sense of Trump, America’s most successful populist. The work is essential reading for students of the presidency.
