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In Trumpism, Bigotry, and the Threat to American Democracy, Larry N. Gerston examines the near-lethal combination of American bigotry and the ability of Donald Trump to take advantage of this scourge to satisfy his own political objective. The result is an individual who won election to the American presidency by adroitly pitting members of American society against one another, while presenting himself as the only person in the position to save America from itself. Having succeeded to the nation’s most important political office, Trump proceeded to use the position for his own benefit, irrespective of laws, norms, and, most importantly, the Constitution. So powerful was Trump that he and his minions came close to overturning the 2020 presidential election with the January 6, 2021, insurrection against the nation’s Capitol. While Trump failed in his attempt to remain in office, the threat to the well-being of the United States remains real.
Curing the causes and consequences of Trumpism It's no secret that the United States faces extraordinary political and societal challenges, even as it recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Political polarization and extremism are the most apparent symptoms, resulting from long-term economic and social inequities as well as a toxic information ecosystem. It is easy to blame Donald Trump for the sad state of American democracy. After all, he abused his executive authority, spread false claims, and even incited violence. But Trumpism is almost certain to outlast Trump himself. The grievances he exploited and the aggrieved to whom he appealed existed well before he became president and likely will endure after he is gone from the political scene. The current political atmosphere is poisonous for those who operate on the basis of facts, reason, and logic. It is time to step back from this dangerous precipice and reflect on the causes of the serious threats to American democracy, procedural justice, and a reason-based society. With polarization now entrenched and authoritarianism gaining strength, no one should assume that facts somehow will triumph over falsehoods and reason will prevail over emotion. Drawing on his personal experiences in the D.C. policy world, Darrell West offers advice for protecting people, organizations, and the country as a whole from our contemporary challenges. This book makes the risks to democracy understandable by explaining specific threats and offering concrete ideas for ameliorating them. It will appeal to anyone interested in American politics, democracy, elections, mass media, technology, and governance.
America’s founders feared a president like Donald Trump. Through the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, they erected a fortified but constrained government to secure the benchmarks of our democracy and established the guardrails designed to protect it. But Trump pushed almost every one of the Framers’ safeguards to its limit—most held, but some broke under the weight of presidential abuses even the Framers did not foresee. Thirteen Cracks will be the first book to expose the most vulnerable areas in our democracy, explain in historical context how President Trump uniquely and outrageously exploited these weak spots, and propose a fix for each challenge. Historian Allen J. Lichtman argues that Trump has put us at a pivot point in our history, where the survival of American democracy is at stake. But this is also an historic opportunity to shore up the vulnerabilities and to strengthen our democracy.
Donald Trump has astonished the people of the United States and the world by actions and words that appear out of the mainstream of political thinking. On the contrary, in this book his approach is identified as Social Darwinism, a view with deep roots in American culture, favoring the strong over the weak. Accordingly, he consistently views his role as establishing a double standard incompatible with democracy. The book reviews the ten components of Social Darwinism, preconditions to democracy, why democracies flounder due to mass society problems, and then identifies what he promised, why he won, and what he did as president, including dirty tricks used to get his way. The book evaluates his fitness for office and impeachment liability, and then ends with suggestions on how to restore humane democracy after Trump leaves office.Trump's Social Darwinism, which lacks a scientific basis, is embedded within American political culture and is traced to the 19th century thinking of Herbert Spencer and William Graham Sumner, who were primarily libertarians opposed to having government intervene in the economy and society. Instead, Trump is a triumphalist who wants government to assist those who are successful regardless of the consequences to those deemed inferior. Among the ten components of his Social Darwinism are policies of racism, sexism, chauvinism, homophobia, anti-environmentalism, ableism, ageism, lazyism, snobbism, and heroism. The only political leader who explicitly followed the triumphalist path is Adolf Hitler, whose writings were next to Donald Trump's bed during his first marriage. The book not only classifies his campaign promises into the ten policy dimensions but documents how he has carried out policies to implement his vision of an America that would create ten types of Jim Crow standards. Nevertheless, the book points out how Congress has rejected his budgetary proposals that would do so.The success of Donald Trump is attributed to his intuitive understanding of sociology's major theory--the Mass Society Paradigm. American society, according to Trump, involves a government and civil society that do not pay attention to the needs of the people, treating them as masses. His remedy, known as populism, is to speak directly to the people in order to implement reforms that will no longer disregard their economic and social desires and needs. Reasons for his support go beyond institutional barriers to voting and demographics, consisting of a strain of authoritarianism present in American society.To carry out his triumphalism, he repeatedly berates bureaucrats of the "administrative state," the "fake news" media, over-politicized judges, and political party leaders. In so doing, he denigrates the basic institutions of American democracy. The book details exactly how he has tried to discredit democratic institutions, often by signing executive orders that take drastic action. Yet the courts have blocked implementation of many new directions followed by members of his administration. The book reflects on whether he is fit to be president. His abilities are assessed along several dimensions--administrative, intellectual, moral, physical, psychological, rational, and temperamental fitness.In addition, the book considers grounds for Trump's possible impeachment, ranging from abuse of power, attacking rule of law, bribery, corruption, emoluments received, endangering national security, failure to executed presidential duties, refusal to implement Congressional laws, immorality, obstruction of justice, perjury, jury and witness tampering, and even treason. Alternatives to impeachment are also reviewed.The final chapter outlines what can be done to eradicate Social Darwinism's popularity, restore democracy, and reverse conditions of American mass society. Readers are encouraged to rethink American government as a body that will coordinate "1000 points of light" to achieve social democracy.
Most voters during the 2016 presidential election were largely unaware of Trump's forty-year history as a skilled con man but an incompetent failure otherwise. In anticipation of the 2020 election, this book describes Trump's public life from his mob connections in the early 1980s through his first two stumbling years in the White House. It documents Trump's inescapable history of ignorance, self-absorption, poor judgment, corruption, impulsive decision-making, bigotry, and strong authoritarian instincts. Taken together, all guaranteed a disastrous presidency. His first two years in the White House fulfilled this guarantee, threatening America's constitutional democracy.
In 2016, both the United Kingdom and the United States found themselves embroiled in bitter battles, battles in which the citizens themselves became their own worst enemies. The Brexit campaign and campaign for the 45th presidency precipitated a rebirth of populism and nationalism, invigorating entire populations and inducing even the most casual observer into political action and discourse. Yet, in both cases, what began as an endeavor to serve the needs of the citizenry morphed into a battlefield of derision and division.Racism and xenophobia are no longer isolated issues affecting only small segments of society. Hate crimes, hate speech, and overt racial discrimination are on the rise worldwide stemming from populist empowerment. Domestic terrorism has surged across the West, particularly in the US. An atmosphere of hostility has emerged, pitting neighbor against neighbor, as it insidiously sweeps through society, permanently altering our understanding of right and wrong and law and order. These issues are now at the forefront of debate and have assumed a position on the frontline of political warfare worldwide. The parallels between the societal changes in the UK and US are not merely provocative, they are disarming, particularly in light of the ensuing rise in far-right and far-left terrorism across the West. In the US, this societal transformation and rise in domestic threat demonstrates a charged and changed political atmosphere, as well as heralding the decline of American democracy.
The victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 election left specialists of American politics perplexed and concerned about the future of US democracy. Because no populist leader had occupied the White House in 150 years, there were many questions about what to expect. Marshaling the long-standing expertise of leading specialists of populism elsewhere in the world, this book provides the first systematic, comparative analysis of the prospects for US democracy under Trump, considering the two regions - Europe and Latin America - that have had the most ample recent experiences with populist chief executives. Chapters analyze the conditions under which populism slides into illiberal or authoritarian rule and in so doing derive well-grounded insights and scenarios for the US case, as well as a more general cross-national framework. The book makes an original argument about the likely resilience of US democracy and its institutions.
Trump follows an approach known as Social Darwinism, which favors the strong over the weak, thereby establishing a double standard incompatible with democracy. The book reviews Social Darwinism, why democracies flounder due to mass society problems, and then identifies what he promised, why he won, and what he did as president, including dirty tricks used to get his way. The book then evaluates his fitness for office and impeachment liability, and then ends with suggestions on how to restore humane democracy after Trump leaves office.
Author : Katherine J. Cramer Publisher : University of Chicago Press Page : 299 pages File Size : 47,56 MB Release : 2016-03-23 Category : Political Science ISBN : 022634925X
“An important contribution to the literature on contemporary American politics. Both methodologically and substantively, it breaks new ground.” —Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare When Scott Walker was elected Governor of Wisconsin, the state became the focus of debate about the appropriate role of government. In a time of rising inequality, Walker not only survived a bitterly contested recall, he was subsequently reelected. But why were the very people who would benefit from strong government services so vehemently against the idea of big government? With The Politics of Resentment, Katherine J. Cramer uncovers an oft-overlooked piece of the puzzle: rural political consciousness and the resentment of the “liberal elite.” Rural voters are distrustful that politicians will respect the distinct values of their communities and allocate a fair share of resources. What can look like disagreements about basic political principles are therefore actually rooted in something even more fundamental: who we are as people and how closely a candidate’s social identity matches our own. Taking a deep dive into Wisconsin’s political climate, Cramer illuminates the contours of rural consciousness, showing how place-based identities profoundly influence how people understand politics. The Politics of Resentment shows that rural resentment—no less than partisanship, race, or class—plays a major role in dividing America against itself.