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JohnL.Campbell
Second,somemightarguethatTrumpwasnot
aneoliberalatallbecausehepromisedtoprotect
SocialSecurity,thegovernment’soldagepension
program,andMedicare,thegovernment’sold
agehealthinsuranceprogram.Butvirtuallyall
Americanpoliticians,regardlessoftheireconomic
philosophy,makesuchclaimsbecausetheseare
enormouslypopularprogramswiththepublic.To
threatenthempubliclyisalmostalwaysasure-fire
waytogetvotedoutofoffice.Neoliberalslike
everyoneelseunderstandthis.Moreover,some
mightarguethatTrumpwasnotaneoliberal
becausehepromisednotonlytorepealObama’s
healthinsuranceprogram,theAffordableCare
Act(Obamacare),butalsoto“replaceitwith
somethingbetter.”However,heneverlaidout
aclearvisionduringthecampaignaboutwhat
hewouldreplaceitwithandwhenhetookoffice
heleftituptoCongresstodeviseareplacement,
whichtheyneverdidbecausetheyfailedtoreplace
itinthefirstplace.Trumpwasseriousabout
repealingObamacare,asmostneoliberalswere,
butnotaboutreplacingit.
Mypointissimplythis.Trumpespoused
neoliberalismwherehethoughtitwouldappeal
tohisbase.Hisneoliberalismwasinconsistent.
Butpoliticiansareofteninconsistentinthis
regard.
5
Infact,oncehetookoffice,hisonlymajor
legislativevictorywasamassiveneoliberaltaxcut,
whichvirtuallyeverycongressionalRepublican
supportedeventhoughitdramaticallyincreased
thegovernment’sbudgetdeficit.Trumpand
theneoliberalshadlongobjectedtodeficitswhen
5LotsofRepublicanpresidentshavedeviatedfrom
theirconservativeeconomicprinciples.DwightEisenhower
builttheinterstatehighwaysystem-amassivegovernment
spendingproject.RichardNixonfamouslydeclaredthat
“weareallKeynesiansnow”andflirtedwithwageand
pricecontrolstocheckinflation.RonaldReaganpassed
anenormoustaxcutinhisfirstyearinofficeonlytoraise
taxeslaterwhenthefederaldeficitballooned.AndTrump’s
inconsistencywasondisplayagainwhen,despitereports
ofrepeatedsexualphilanderingwithpornstarsandothers,
hecourtedEvangelicalChristianswithappealsto“family
values”andbypromisingtoappointanti-abortionjustices
totheSupremeCourt.
Democratsgeneratedthem.Nowtheyweresuddenly
silent,demonstratingagaintheinconsistencyand
politicalexpediencyoftheirviews.
Politicalpolarisation
Theeconomic,racialandideologicaltrends
Ihavebeendiscussingflowedtogethercontributing
toafourthtrend-risingpoliticalpolarisation.
TheideologicalgapbetweenRepublicansand
Democratshadbeenwideninggraduallyfordecades
(Abramowitz,2013;Campbell,2016;Dionne,
2016;Edsall,1984;PewResearchCenter,2014).
Bysomeaccountspolarisationnowadaysisgreater
thanithaseverbeensinceReconstructionover
acenturyago(Campbell,2016,p.140,chaps.1
and5;Edsall,2012,pp.140-141).Butwhy?First,
sincethe1970s,bothpoliticalpartiesshiftedto
therightthanksinparttotheriseofneoliberalism.
ButtheRepublicansembracedthisideology
muchmoreferventlythantheDemocratsand,as
aresult,movedfarthertotheright(PewResearch
Center,2015a).
Second,economictrendswereatwork.Orga-
nisedlabourhadbeenasteadfastDemocratic
Partysupportersincethe1930s.Butbeginning
inthelate1950sthelabourmovementgrew
weakerthankstothedeclineofmanufacturing,
theriseofoutsourcing,andothereconomictrends.
Hence,theunions’abilitytosupportDemocratic
candidatesfavouringliberalworking-classinterests
waswaning(Frank,2016,p.51).Atthesame
time,businessinterestsgrewmoreconservative
politicallybecausetheyfacedincreasingglobal
competitionandwerelesswillingtoacceptex-
pensiveDemocraticsocialprogramspaidfor
withhightaxes(Edsall,2012,pp.69-72;1985;
Ferguson&Rogers,1986;Judis,2016,p.43).The
moderatingpoliticalvoiceofAmerica’sbusiness
elitebegantofadeout(Mizruchi,2013).
Racialtrendsalsomattered.Thankstothe
SouthernStrategyandsubsequentwhitebacklash,
bytheearly2000s,conservative,white,married
peopleviewingthemselvesaspayingtaxesto
financeprogramsforunderservingminorities
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ZarządzaniePubliczne/PublicGovernance4(46)/2018
