Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Politics In General Is it too soon to be talking 2020?

His language, stoking anger before allowing his audience to discharge their emotions in a release of indignation, liberating them to break taboos for themselves, was potent. It reflected his now well-established affective bond over his supporters. For them, Trump is seen as no ordinary politician. Whereas others are corrupt or get bogged down in procedure and detail, he projects a bigger picture. While others prevaricate and make excuses, he battles established elites and, if you believe the hype, even gets things done.

In other words Trump is a populist, as he claims to be the voice of the long-ignored people. He is also a nativist, as he speaks only for certain sections of American society while assuming others are, somehow, not American. This is a far cry from Republican presidents such as Ronald Reagan, whose final speech in office powerfully articulated the idea that anyone could become American. Trump is also a charismatic leader. His appeal comes from the vision. It is mythic, not rational. While this does not make him a fascist, it certainly makes him a far-right leader.

Charisma, according to Weber, is a quality of the individual personality that sets them aside from ordinary men and women, so that they are ‘treated as endowed with ... exceptional powers or qualities’. Charisma supplements other forms of political power such as bureaucracy (Trump’s ‘deep state’), plutocracy and aristocracy (strong in Weber’s time and perpetuated in the US in the legacy practices of elite universities). Writing in Germany during the First World War, Weber did not believe that traditional democratic values, such as equality and inclusion, could explain the politics of what he called ‘mass-states’ or ‘leader-democracies’, such as Germany, Britain, France and the United States. Rather, such states generate charismatic leaders capable of strong and independent direction, both to allow mass democracy to flourish, and to fulfil their geopolitical role. According to Weber, the charismatic leader has three qualities, all of which Trump exemplifies, and all of which the Democrats misunderstand.