The origins, nature, and future of “Trumpism”

Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as “Trumpism”: it is neither a doctrine nor an ideology in its own right. But Donald Trump and his colorful personality draw on a set of traditions with deep roots in US politics. They focus on a number of key ideas that are encapsulated in a slogan. These key ideas are the foregrounding of a “people” opposed to the elites of the political and intellectual establishment, an unapologetically isolationist nationalism, economic protectionism, hostility to taxation and immigration, and the legitimation of authoritarian practices that reject all opposition. The slogan is the famous “America First,” which was first used in the 1920s in the era of the Ku Klux Klan, and revived by Pat Buchanan as part of his unsuccessful 1992 presidential campaign, before being wholeheartedly adopted by Trump. But, as the analyses presented in this dossier emphasize, never before has this current been so successful in its pursuit of power. Never before has it so successfully “vampirized” one of the two main parties. With or without Trump, the Republican Party now seems entirely committed to “Trumpism,” ensuring its long-term survival. And in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, a number of Republican states have passed laws to change electoral rules in their favor.
While Trump’s outlandish personality and eccentricities are part of his continued popularity, they do not explain it entirely. Although “Trumpism” cannot be considered an ideology in its own right, it has deep roots in US history, as political scientists Jean-Marie Ruiz and Isabelle Vagnoux explain in this article published i…