Donald Trump and American Populism

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.