The Founding Nightmare Realized: Trumjp

The Founding Nightmare Realized: Demagoguery, Fascism, And Donald Trump Zachary Dwyer University of Texas at Austin Abstract Donald Trump’s campaign was remarkable for a number of reasons. One of these was the way it generated discussion of the phenomena of demagoguery and fascism among scholars, citizens, and politicians. Prior to the 2016 presidential election, it would have been almost inconceivable to think that someone plausibly labeled a demagogue or a fascist could be elected to the highest office in the United States. This paper utilizes the Trump campaign and the early portion of his presidency as tools to assesses what demagoguery and fascism are, why they are problematic for the effective exercise of statesmanship, why they cannot be reconciled with constitutional democracy, and how they relate to one another, highlighting the stark distinctions between the reality of Trump’s practices and the desires of the founders. When the founders conceived the leadership role of the executive, they envisioned a dynamic and unified branch actuated by a commitment to the common good and, being relatively immune to popular pressures, capable of making difficult decisions for the longterm benefit of the people. Although they sought to promote the effective exercise of statesmanship, the founders were concerned with limiting the potential for the abuse of executive power and with minimizing the reliance of the executive on popular appeals rather than constitutionally derived authority. Certain types of leadership, namely those that entail the abuse of power or that rely on “popular arts,” are inherently antithetical to these principles. The candidacy of Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential race and the early actions of his presidency have thrown into sharp relief the incompatibility of