The erosion of the administrative state under President Trump: Citizens' pushback against individual and institutional racism

• Published date: 01 January 2023
• Author: James E. Wright,Michael Blair Thomas
• Date: 01 January 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13515

VIEWPOINT

The erosion of the administrative state under

President Trump: Citizens’pushback against individual

and institutional racism

James E. Wright II

1

| Michael Blair Thomas

1,2

1

Askew School of Public Administration & Policy,

Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA

2

School of Planning, Public Policy and

Management, University of Oregon, Eugene,

United States

Correspondence

James E. Wright II and Michael Blair Thomas,

Askew School of Public Administration and

Policy, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

USA.

Email: jwright4@fsu.edu (J.E.W.); mblairthomas@

gmail.com (M.B.T.)

Abstract

President Trump encouraged bad state actors within the administrative state to

contribute to inequities for civilians. We highlight how Trump’s actions and

rhetoric led to increased individual, institutional, and systemic racism and violence.

As a response to this increased violence and rhetoric, we discuss the role civilians

(including professional athletes) played in engaging in protests and the 2020 elec-

tion. Given that more individuals voted in that election cycle, we emphasize the

importance for public administration to adapt, evolve, and engage with new

actors concerned with administrative action or inaction.

Evidence for Practice

•Consistent with prior American presidents Andrew Jackson, Ronald Reagan, and

Woodrow Wilson, President Trump’s desire to consistently characterize the

administrative state in a negative light through dog whistle politics limited the

effectiveness of the state.

•With the presence of ongoing police violence against Black Americans, President

Trump’s decision to call out athletes such as LeBron James created a new coali-

tion of athletes and traditional activists pushing against the president and bad

actors from the administrative state.

•Changing demographics within the United States will create opportunities for Black

athletes to coalesce with new groups to emerge as strong voices representing com-

munities most harmed by the deconstruction of the administrative state.

INTRODUCTION

Public administration as a profession was eroded and

damaged under the Trump presidency (Goodsell, 2019;

Rosenbloom, 2019). During Trump’s presidency, there was

a clear attempt to unravel the traditional notions of the

administrative state (despite increasing the size of the

federal government) and increase divisiveness in govern-

ment which has coincided with the increased visibility of

bad state actors. In defining the administrative state, Rob-

erts (2020,p.392)arguesthattheconceptis“a[typeofstate]

emerging at a specific moment in history, [raising] wide-

spread apprehensions about the growth of untrammeled

bureaucratic power.”It is responsible for maintaining and

enforcing democratic principles within the United States.

Despite the myriad of important tasks of the administrative

state that includes enforcing regulations, running social

welfare programs, and holding bureaucrats and administra-

tors responsible (Aberbach & Rockman, 1988), the anti-

administrative agenda continued under a Trump presidency.

The attempted deconstruction of the state was embed-

ded in explicitly coded language from the outset of President

Trump’s appearance on the national political scene. His proc-

lamations to “drain the swamp”and to undermine the “deep

state”(Bull, 2013;Michaels,2017; Peters & Pierre, 2019)were

present during his 2016 campaign and throughout the dura-

tion of his administration. Draining the swamp and dealing

with the deep state served as codes to vacate the govern-

ment halls of lifelong administrators upon taking residence at

the White House, an endeavor in which he only partly

succeeded.

Trump’s attacks on the administrative state involved

conditions that produced state-sanctioned violence

against communities of color in America. Since he began

Received: 8 December 2020 Revised: 26 March 2022 Accepted: 26 April 2022

DOI: 10.1111/puar.13515

210 © 2022 American Society for Public Administration. Public Admin Rev. 2023;83:210–214.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/puar