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WhydidDonaldTrumpreallygetelected?
MuchofTrump’seconomicplanwasvintage
neoliberalism.Onereasonsomanyvotersbelieved
thiswasthatitwasafamiliarstorythatpoliticians
hadbeenpreachingmoreandmorefordecades
astheycametoaccepttheneoliberalparadigm
(Mudge,2011).Anotherreasonwasthatpeople
weresimplyignorantofthefacts.According
toastudyfromtheUniversityofMaryland,
whenitcametopoliticalissuesliketheseFox
Newsviewers,theclearmajorityofwhomwere
conservativeandlikelyTrumpsupporters,were
themostmisinformedaudienceofanymajor
newsnetwork(Brocketal.,2012,pp.13-14).
AthirdreasonwasthatTrump’splanwassimple
andeasilyunderstood,especiallycomparedto
Clinton’scomplicatedeconomicplan.Trump
livedbytheKISSPrinciple-KeepItSimple,
Stupid.Hewasaproatpackaginghismessage
inafewsimplethoughtsthatresonatedwith
crowds.Shewasnot(Allen&Parnes,2017,
p.323;Stone,2017,pp.28-29,265).Finally,he
frameditallinwaysthatresonatedwithmany
people’ssuspicionsofbiggovernment.Since
the1960sAmericanshadgrownincreasingly
waryofbiggovernment,relativetobigbusiness
orbiglabour,asathreattotheUnitedStates.
Inthemid-1960sabout48%ofthepublicheld
thisviewbutby2014ithadreached72%,often
becausepeoplefeltthatthefederalgovernment
threatenedindividualrightsandfreedoms.And
amongRepublicansthenumbersskyrocketedfrom
41%to92%whobelievedthis(GallupPolling,
2015).Moreover,since1970moreAmericansfelt
thattheirtaxesweretoohighratherthaneithertoo
loworjustaboutright(GallupPolling,2017a).
Thestorywassimilarforgovernmentspending.
Sincethemid-1970smostAmericanshavealmost
alwaysfavouredsmallgovernmentwithfewer
services.ThedifferencebetweenRepublicansand
Democratswaspronouncedandgrew.By2015,
80%ofRepublicansfavouredsmallergovernment
asopposedto31%ofDemocrats(PewResearch
Center,2015a).Thereasonwasthatthepublic
worriedthatbiggovernmentwaswasteful,corrupt
andinefficient.Again,thedifferencebetween
RepublicansandDemocratswassubstantial
(75%vs40%)(PewResearchCenter,2015a).
Twocaveatsareinorder.First,neoliberalismis
notamonolithicparadigm;itisamenuofpolicy
optionsfromwhichpolicymakerspickandchoose
(Campbell&Pedersen,2001,pp.269-273).One
wayinwhichTrumpdeviatedfromtheneoliberal
packagewashispledgetorevisitAmerica’s
commitmenttofreetradeagreementslikeNAFTA,
theTrans-PacificPartnershipandtheWorldTrade
Organisation.Neoliberalism,afterall,strongly
favouredfreetrade.3Howdidhereconcilethis
contradiction?WhenitcametofreetradeTrumpwas
particularlyhardonChinaandMexico.Remember
thatoneofhiscomplaintsaboutNAFTAwasthat
MexicowastakingAmericanjobs.Rarelydidhe
mentionCanada,thethirdNAFTApartner.Inother
words,hejustifiedhisanti-NAFTAanti-freetrade
planbyblendingissuesofraceandjobs.Thesame
couldbeinferredfromhisremarksabouttrade
withChina,andbyextensiontherestoftheSouth
AmericanandAsianparticipantsintheTrans-
PacificPartnership.Similarly,Trump’santi-
immigrationpolicywasatoddswithneoliberalism’s
beliefinthebenefitsofthefreemovementoflabour
unfetteredbygovernmentintervention.But,as
wehaveseen,healsoframedthisissueinterms
ofrace,protectingworkingandmiddle-classjobs,
crackingdownoncrime,andprotectingAmerican
values.
4
SoTrump’scommitmenttoneoliberalism
wasamixedbag,butonethatstillappealedtohis
politicalbase.
3Judis,2016,chap.3.Interestingly,exceptforthe
WTOTrumphadverylittlecriticismoftheotherBretton
Woodsinstitutions-theInternationalMonetaryFund
andtheWorldBank-whichlaidthefoundationforthe
post-warinternationaleconomicorderandeventually
theWashingtonConsensus,itselfakindofinternational
variantofneoliberalism.
4TrumpalsoobjectedtoNATO,oratleastwanted
itsmemberstopaytheirfairsharetosupportit.Thishad
nothingtodowithneoliberalism.Itwasamanifestation
ofhisoppositiontoneoconservatism,which,amongother
things,advocatedthatAmericaencourage“regimechange”
incountriesitdidnotlike.Neoconservatismshouldnot
beconfusedwithneoliberalism.
ZarządzaniePubliczne/PublicGovernance4(46)/2018
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