Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Ascriptive Nationalism, Demagoguery, and the Modern Presidency: A Case Study in Constitutional Decay
Date of Degree
6-2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Program
Political Science
Advisor
Corey Robin
Subject Categories
American Politics | Constitutional Law | Political Theory | Public Affairs | Social Influence and Political Communication | Speech and Rhetorical Studies
Keywords
The rhetorical presidency, American presidency, Donald Trump, presidential rhetoric, Trump presidency, American political development
Abstract
This study is an account of the modern presidency as a source––and under Donald Trump, an accelerant––of systemic problems in American politics. Against the prevailing scholarly view of the Trump presidency as an unqualified aberration, I argue that the signal features of his efforts at governance are actually the product of converging patterns of political and institutional order. Building on seminal (but previously disjointed) work on ascriptive Americanism and the rhetorical presidency, I show that Trump represents the political synthesis of America’s ascriptive tradition and a form of presidential leadership inaugurated more than a century ago by Woodrow Wilson. Moreover, I argue that Trump’s fusion of these two predominating forces in the polity has innovated the uses of presidential demagoguery, and in turn exacerbated pre-existing dilemmas of governance. Examining the key aspects of that convergence not only underscores the pitfalls of Wilson’s leadership doctrine manifest in Trump’s case, but also marks these as accelerants of a deeper problem––a process I call constitutional decay. By rethinking the relationship between Trump as an agent of ascriptive nationalism, and the pathologies built into the modern presidency, I ultimately show how independent patterns of continuity taken for granted in American politics can come together in subtle ways that affect systemic conditions.
Recommended Citation
Putney, Christopher J., "Ascriptive Nationalism, Demagoguery, and the Modern Presidency: A Case Study in Constitutional Decay" (2020). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3805
Included in
American Politics Commons, Constitutional Law Commons, Political Theory Commons, Public Affairs Commons, Social Influence and Political Communication Commons, Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons