Loading...

Directing the Whirlwind

The Trump Presidency and the Deconstruction of the Administrative State

by Lisa K. Parshall (Author) Jim Twombly (Author)
©2020 Monographs XXVI, 248 Pages

Summary

Donald J. Trump ran on a platform that, among other things, promised to "drain the swamp" that is Washington, DC. Part of that draining would entail what his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, would call "the deconstruction of the administrative state." Set in the political environment of 2020, with a raging pandemic and nationwide protests, this work examines the philosophy that guides the Trump Administration’s approach and the mechanisms by which it seeks to accomplish the deconstruction. By combining journalistic accounts with presidential and public administration scholarship, the book raises questions about the impact of Trump’s approach on the future of public administration. As such, this work makes a strong contribution to public administration and presidential studies and casts a scholarly light on treatments of Trump’s contribution to governance and politics.

Table Of Contents

  • Cover
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • About the author
  • About the book
  • This eBook can be cited
  • Contents
  • List of Figures
  • List of Table
  • Preface
  • Acknowledgements
  • 1 Campaigning on a Platform of Administrative Deconstruction
  • Deconstruction During the 2016 Campaign
  • Draining the Swamp or Controlling the Beast?
  • Meaning of Drain the Swamp
  • Can the Beast Be Controlled?
  • Presidential Control Model
  • Why This Route Instead of More Standard Democratic Processes?
  • A Democratic Threat?
  • 2 Deregulating the Administrative State
  • Rolling Back Administrative Regulation
  • Regulatory Delay and Nonenforcement
  • The Congressional Review Act
  • The Directive Power: Trump’s Deregulatory Executive Orders
  • Assessing the Impact of the Trump Administration’s Deregulatory Agenda
  • The Stock and Flow of Regulations
  • Blocked by the Courts
  • Beyond Deregulation
  • 3 Managing and Staffing in the Trump Administration
  • Principal-Agent Theory
  • Appointing Anathemas
  • Agency Morale
  • The Revolving Door: A New Managerial Style?
  • Gaining Ground?
  • 4 Anti-Administrativism Through the Courts
  • Ending Judicial Deference
  • What Are the Chevron and Auer Deference Doctrines?
  • Recent Calls to End Judicial Deference
  • Congressional Support for the End of Judicial Deference
  • Judicial Appointments and Anti-Administrativism
  • Would Abandonment of Chevron Deference Destroy the Administrative State?
  • Unintended Consequences?
  • Administrative Law Judges and Immigration: An Illustrative Example
  • The Long-Term Impact on Constitutional Legitimacy of the Court and for the Rule of Law?
  • 5 Delegitimizing the Administrative State
  • The “Deep State” versus the “Steady State”
  • National Intelligence and Foreign Affairs
  • “I Know Better than the Generals”
  • Law Enforcement
  • Silencing the Scientists
  • Undermining Bureaucracy in the Context of Theory
  • 6 The Plan for Reorganizing and Reforming Government
  • Presidential Reorganization Authority
  • Trump and Executive Reorganization
  • The White House Office of American Innovation (OAI)
  • Executive Order 13781 and OMB-Led Reorganization
  • Budgetary Power: Downsizing, Defunding, and Reorganizing
  • Efficiency versus Loyalty in the Reorganization of Government
  • Reorganizing without Expertise
  • 7 Constitution and Crisis: Barriers to Presidential Control
  • The Enduring Power of the Administrative State
  • The Administrative State Strikes Back?
  • The COVID-19 Crisis and the Hollowed-Out State
  • The Enduring Power of Federalism
  • The Trump Administration’s Approach to Federalism
  • Federalism and COVID-19 Crisis: Trump versus the Governors
  • Federalism and the 2020 Protests
  • Constitution and Crisis: Trump’s Last Chance or Just the Beginning?
  • 8 The Future of Public Administration Post-Trump
  • Perspectives on Trump’s Impact on the Administrative State
  • Politics-as-Usual and Mid-Range Interpretations
  • Mid-Range to Alarmist Interpretations
  • Trump as an Existential Threat
  • The Post-Acquittal President: An Even Greater Threat?
  • The Administrative State Post-Trump?
  • Index

cover

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Control Number: 2020031456

About the author

Lisa K. Parshall is Professor of Political Science at Daemen College in Amherst, New York. She earned her Ph.D. at the SUNY-Buffalo in 2001 and is the author of Reforming the Presidential Nominating Process: Front-Loading’s Consequences and the National Primary Solution.

Jim Twombly is Professor of Political Science at Elmira College in Elmira, New York. Earning his Ph.D. at Stony Brook University in 1992, he is the author of The Progression of the American Presidency and Political Scandal and American Pop Culture: Sex, Power, and Cover-ups.

About the book

Donald J. Trump ran on a platform that, among other things, promised to “drain the swamp” that is Washington, DC. Part of that draining would entail what his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, would call “the deconstruction of the administrative state.” Set in the political environment of 2020, with a raging pandemic and nationwide protests, this work examines the philosophy that guides the Trump Administration’s approach and the mechanisms by which it seeks to accomplish the deconstruction. By combining journalistic accounts with presidential and public administration scholarship, the book raises questions about the impact of Trump’s approach on the future of public administration. As such, this work makes a strong contribution to public administration and presidential studies and casts a scholarly light on treatments of Trump’s contribution to governance and politics.

“‘ Drain the Swamp’ was a familiar chant at Trump rallies in the latter stages of the 2016 presidential campaign and set the stage for Trump’s attempts to bend the executive branch to his will. Thoroughly grounded in the scholarly literature, Parshall and Twombly present a comprehensive study detailing Trump Administration attempts to implement the unitary theory of the executive and how these efforts exceeded those of other modern presidents. Altogether, a notable examination of President Trump as chief executive.”

—Harvey L. Schantz, Professor of Political Science, SUNY, Plattsburgh

This eBook can be cited

This edition of the eBook can be cited. To enable this we have marked the start and end of a page. In cases where a word straddles a page break, the marker is placed inside the word at exactly the same position as in the physical book. This means that occasionally a word might be bifurcated by this marker.

Contents

List of Figures

List of Table

Preface

Acknowledgements

1. Campaigning on a Platform of Administrative Deconstruction

Deconstruction During the 2016 Campaign

Draining the Swamp or Controlling the Beast?

Meaning of Drain the Swamp

Can the Beast Be Controlled?

Presidential Control Model

Why This Route Instead of More Standard Democratic Processes?

A Democratic Threat?

2. Deregulating the Administrative State

Rolling Back Administrative Regulation

Regulatory Delay and Nonenforcement

The Congressional Review Act

The Directive Power: Trump’s Deregulatory Executive Orders

Assessing the Impact of the Trump Administration’s Deregulatory Agenda

The Stock and Flow of Regulations

Blocked by the Courts

Beyond Deregulation

3. Managing and Staffing in the Trump Administration

Principal-Agent Theory

Appointing Anathemas

Agency Morale

The Revolving Door: A New Managerial Style?

Gaining Ground?

4. Anti-Administrativism Through the Courts

Ending Judicial Deference

What Are the Chevron and Auer Deference Doctrines?

Recent Calls to End Judicial Deference

Congressional Support for the End of Judicial Deference

Judicial Appointments and Anti-Administrativism

Would Abandonment of Chevron Deference Destroy the Administrative State?

Unintended Consequences?

Administrative Law Judges and Immigration: An Illustrative Example

The Long-Term Impact on Constitutional Legitimacy of the Court and for the Rule of Law?

5. Delegitimizing the Administrative State

The “Deep State” versus the “Steady State”

National Intelligence and Foreign Affairs

“I Know Better than the Generals”

Law Enforcement

Silencing the Scientists

Undermining Bureaucracy in the Context of Theory

6. The Plan for Reorganizing and Reforming Government

Presidential Reorganization Authority

Trump and Executive Reorganization

The White House Office of American Innovation (OAI)

Executive Order 13781 and OMB-Led Reorganization

Budgetary Power: Downsizing, Defunding, and Reorganizing

Efficiency versus Loyalty in the Reorganization of Government

Reorganizing without Expertise

7. Constitution and Crisis: Barriers to Presidential Control

The Enduring Power of the Administrative State

The Administrative State Strikes Back?

The COVID-19 Crisis and the Hollowed-Out State

The Enduring Power of Federalism

The Trump Administration’s Approach to Federalism

Details

Pages
XXVI, 248
Year
2020
ISBN (PDF)
9781433183522
ISBN (ePUB)
9781433183539
ISBN (MOBI)
9781433183546
ISBN (Hardcover)
9781433183515
DOI
10.3726/b17495
Language
English
Publication date
2020 (October)
Published
New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Oxford, Wien, 2020. XXVI, 248 pp., 4 b/w ill.,1 table.

Biographical notes

Lisa K. Parshall (Author) Jim Twombly (Author)

Lisa K. Parshall is Professor of Political Science at Daemen College in Amherst, New York. She earned her Ph.D. at the SUNY-Buffalo in 2001 and is the author of Reforming the Presidential Nominating Process: Front-Loading’s Consequences and the National Primary Solution. Jim Twombly is Professor of Political Science at Elmira College in Elmira, New York. Earning his Ph.D. at Stony Brook University in 1992, he is the author of The Progression of the American Presidency and Political Scandal and Political Scandal and American Pop Culture: Sex, Power, and Cover-ups.

Previous

Title: Directing the Whirlwind
book preview page numper 1
book preview page numper 2
book preview page numper 3
book preview page numper 4
book preview page numper 5
book preview page numper 6
book preview page numper 7
book preview page numper 8
book preview page numper 9
book preview page numper 10
book preview page numper 11
book preview page numper 12
book preview page numper 13
book preview page numper 14
book preview page numper 15
book preview page numper 16
book preview page numper 17
book preview page numper 18
book preview page numper 19
book preview page numper 20
book preview page numper 21
book preview page numper 22
book preview page numper 23
book preview page numper 24
book preview page numper 25
book preview page numper 26
book preview page numper 27
book preview page numper 28
book preview page numper 29
book preview page numper 30
book preview page numper 31
book preview page numper 32
book preview page numper 33
book preview page numper 34
book preview page numper 35
book preview page numper 36
book preview page numper 37
book preview page numper 38
book preview page numper 39
book preview page numper 40
276 pages