Abstract
Most professional political scientists and professional political commentators seem to have been very surprised by the rise of Donald Trump in American politics. Nevertheless, Trump’s rise is intelligible as an example of a recurring political phenomenon that Aristotle treats in Book 5 of the Politics: the factional conflict that often roils the politics of a city. According to Aristotle, factional conflict arises from disputes about equality and inequality. More concretely, human beings clash politically over their desire for gain and for honor, on the one hand, and their aversion to loss and dishonor, on the other. In addition, Aristotle identifies several beginning points of faction, such as ethnic differences and fears of diminished political power. Finally, Aristotle examines the different ways that faction arises in democracies and oligarchies. This chapter examines the Trump phenomena in light of these elements of Aristotle’s account of faction.
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Notes
- 1.
I rely on Carnes Lord’s translation of Aristotle’s Politics (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984)
- 2.
“Full Text: Donald Trump 2016 RNC draft speech transcript,” Politico, July 21, 2016, http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/full-transcript-donald-trump-nomination-acceptance-speech-at-rnc-225974
- 3.
CNN , October 22, 2016, http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1610/22/cnr.03.html
- 4.
Donald Trump, “Inaugural Address,” January 20, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/inaugural-address
- 5.
Trump, RNC speech.
- 6.
Trump, “Inaugural Address.”
- 7.
“Here’s Donald Trump’s Presidential Announcement Speech,” Time, June 16, 2015, http://time.com/3923128/donald-trump-announcement-speech/
- 8.
Trump, RNC speech.
- 9.
Daniel Cox, Rachel Lienesch, and Robert Jones, “Beyond Economics: Fears of Cultural Displacement Pushed the White Working Class to Trump,” Public Religion Research Institute, May 9, 2017, https://www.prri.org/research/white-working-class-attitudes-economy-trade-immigration-election-donald-trump/
- 10.
Voter Study Group, June 13, 2017, https://www.voterstudygroup.org/newsroom/press-release-june-13-2017
- 11.
Cox, Lienesch, and Jones, “Beyond Economics.”
- 12.
Trump, “Inaugural Address.”
- 13.
Nick Gass, “Early Exit Polls Suggest GOP Voters Feel Betrayed by Establishment,” Politico, March 15, 2016, http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/primary-exit-polls-republicans-feel-betrayed-220796
- 14.
I omit discussion of those that seemed to me not very relevant to the politics of the 2016 election: underestimation, location, neglect of small differences, and electioneering.
- 15.
Trump, “Inaugural Address.”
- 16.
Trump, “Presidential Announcement Speech.”
- 17.
Bruce Drake, “More Americans Say U.S. Failed to Achieve Its Goals in Iraq,” Pew Research Center, June 12, 2014, http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/06/12/more-americans-say-us-failed-to-achieve-its-goals-in-iraq/
- 18.
“Kaiser Health’s Tracking Poll: The Public’s Views on the ACA,” Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, August 11, 2017, http://www.kff.org/interactive/kaiser-health-tracking-poll-the-publics-views-on-the-aca/#?response=Favorable--Unfavorable&aRange=twoYear
- 19.
Alexander Hamilton , James Madison , and John Jay, The Federalist , ed. Jacob E. Cooke (Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 1961), 59.
- 20.
Cox, Lienesch, and Jones, “Beyond Economics.”
Bibliography
Aristotle. 1984. The Politics. Trans. Carnes Lord. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Hamilton, Alexander, James Madison, and John Jay. 1961. In The Federalist, ed. Jacob E. Cooke. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press.
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Holloway, C. (2018). Aristotle’s Account of Factional Conflict and the Rise of Donald Trump. In: Sable, M., Torres, A. (eds) Trump and Political Philosophy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74427-8_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74427-8_2
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