TRUMPISM AGAINST THE PUBLIC INTEREST: A POLITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Abstract
Trumpism has come to mean different things to different people. This dissertation explores whether Trumpism is an extreme form of New Public Management, privileging values of efficiency and effectiveness, in public policy and public administration, to the exclusion of the value of social equity. Fairclough & Fairclough’s (2012) political discourse analysis method is applied to Trump’s immigration policy to enact merit-based immigration and to his housing policy to eliminate the Community Development Block Grant program. Using Fairclough & Fairclough’s (2012) political discourse analysis method consisting of argumentation theory and critical discourse analysis, along with Frederickson’s “Compound Theory of Social Equity” (1990, 1997, and 2010), this dissertation seeks to answer: 1. Do the New Public Management arguments supporting Trump’s policies withstand critical evaluation? and 2. Do the New Public Management values espoused by President Trump and his key policy advocates differ from traditional democratic governance?