Us

Abstract

The chapter us considers the many implications and ramifications of authoritarianism in the presidency of Donald J. Trump. The authoritarian leader pits the good us against the bad “them,” and he promulgates a doctrine that aims to defend against the them while purging all dissent within the “us.” The chapter discusses the origins of the concept of the authoritarian personality, and it examines instances of authoritarian leadership in “illiberal” democracies today, as in Poland and Hungary. Coming back to the United States, the chapter examines Trump’s authoritarian dynamic from many different perspectives, including race relations and the emergence of the alt-right in American society, the changing demographics of the United States, Trump’s appeal to evangelical white Christians, and the president’s assault on Congress, the courts, the institutions of American law enforcement, the government bureaucracy, and the press.