In Short:

In this article, we want to provide a summary of our book’s core argument and draw out its implications for Trump’s second term as well as for the years after Trump leaves center stage.

Abstract

How could a strongman presidency have emerged here in the United States, of all places? This is a question we address in our recent book, Trajectory of Power: The Rise of the Strongman Presidency, in which we attempt to explain the vast expansion of presidential power throughout American history and the ultimate rise of a strongman presidency that threatens to destroy the nation’s democracy. We finished the book just as Donald Trump’s second term was about to launch. In this article, we want to provide a summary of the book’s core argument and draw out its implications for Trump’s second term as well as for the years after Trump leaves center stage. We’ll also use this opportunity to address certain pushbacks we’ve received since the book was published. The first set of criticisms says we go too far in “blaming” Republicans and conservatives for strongman exercises of power that, in reality, both parties are committing. We’ll show that the evidence overwhelmingly favors our own asymmetric account. The second set of criticisms comes from Kenneth Lowande, who offers a scathing assessment of our work. We will show that his major claims are without merit and indeed that he avoids dealing with the fundamental claims and issues at the heart of the book. We conclude by offering some summary observations about the transformation of the American presidency and the political minefield that lies ahead.

About the author

William G. Howell

dean & Professor, school of government & policy

William Howell has written widely on separation-of-powers issues and American political institutions, especially the presidency. He currently is working on research projects on separation of powers issues, the institutional foundations of effective government, and emergent threats to democracy.