Subverting the Republic
Donald J. Trump and the Perils of Presidentialism
Published on 10. June 2025
Book
Hardback
328 pages
978-0-7006-3884-0 (ISBN)
Description
From two expert presidential scholars comes a new answer to why the Trump presidency happened: decades of partisanship and policies have centered the president as the sole focus of American government to create a treacherous system whose danger may far outlive the politics of Donald J. Trump.The election of Donald J. Trump on November 6, 2016, changed how we understand the American presidency-but this transformation was not of his own making. His unprecedented rise to power led to an administration where Trump brazenly defied established constitutional norms and institutions. Yet, as Nicholas F. Jacobs and Sidney M. Milkis reveal, Trump's presidency was not merely a shocking departure from tradition, but a symptom of a constitutional disease that had has long afflicted the American polity. They call this condition presidentialism, a dangerous shift towards an executive-centered politics and government that places immense power in the hands of a single individual.
While some scholars of American politics view the Trump presidency as a cult of personality, Jacobs and Milkis argue that his unsettling ascent to the White House was decades in the making, the result of numerous cultural, institutional, and constitutional changes. From aggressively redeploying the federal government's administrative powers, to using the tools of the modern presidency to undertake a hostile takeover of the Republican Party, Trump's presidency reveals the peril of a presidency-centered democracy that combines executive aggrandizement and polarizing struggles over the meaning of American identity. The disruptive features of the Trump presidency should not be viewed as an ephemeral phenomenon, nor does Donald Trump's departure from the White House end the threat that presidentialism poses to American democracy.
Subverting the Republic explains why the Trump presidency happened-and why it might happen again.
While some scholars of American politics view the Trump presidency as a cult of personality, Jacobs and Milkis argue that his unsettling ascent to the White House was decades in the making, the result of numerous cultural, institutional, and constitutional changes. From aggressively redeploying the federal government's administrative powers, to using the tools of the modern presidency to undertake a hostile takeover of the Republican Party, Trump's presidency reveals the peril of a presidency-centered democracy that combines executive aggrandizement and polarizing struggles over the meaning of American identity. The disruptive features of the Trump presidency should not be viewed as an ephemeral phenomenon, nor does Donald Trump's departure from the White House end the threat that presidentialism poses to American democracy.
Subverting the Republic explains why the Trump presidency happened-and why it might happen again.
Reviews / Votes
"Jacobs and Milkis have provided a thorough accounting of the Trump presidency that places it in historical and institutional context. They identify how 'executive-centered partisanship,' the result of institutional changes across the presidency and the party system, have created opportunities for Trump, while also delineating how these structures have influenced other presidents and the broader political system. This is a highly informative and theoretically robust book."- Julia Azari, author of Delivering the People's Message: The Changing Politics of the Presidential Mandate "Jacobs and Milkis describe how Donald Trump's presidency was constructed on the foundation that Franklin D. Roosevelt built. Not in terms of policy-of course-but on the premise of an executive-centered presidency that began with FDR and has been accepted and extended by his successors. Jacobs and Milkis forcefully argue that Donald Trump wasn't just an aberration but an extension of a revamped presidency that began decades before. A must-addition to the literature on the Trump presidency."- John Kenneth White, author of Grand Old Unraveling: The Republican Party, Donald Trump, and the Rise of Authoritarianism"This meticulously researched study presents an instructive critique of the expansion of executive power in the modern presidency. The authors situate the Trump presidency in a longstanding evolution of executive-centered party governance, which they argue is antithetical to American democracy. Their argument that stronger institutional leadership to counter presidential power is needed to preserve the constitutional system of checks and balances is essential reading for scholars of the presidency and American politics."- Meena Bose, author of Pragmatic Vision: Obama and the Enactment of the Affordable Care Act
"Jacobs and Milkis's latest book is a timely and important work that not only provides a detailed and thorough assessment of the Trump presidency but also seeks to diagnose the greater systemic challenges facing modern presidential politics. It is a must-read book for anyone who seeks to understand presidential behavior and contemporary politics."- Mitchel A. Sollenberger, coauthor of The Unitary Executive Theory: A Danger to Constitutional Government
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Kansas
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
8 figures
Dimensions
Height: 166 mm
Width: 239 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
674 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7006-3884-0 (9780700638840)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Nicholas Jacobs | Sidney M. Milkis
Subverting the Republic
Donald J. Trump and the Perils of Presidentialism
E-Book
06/2025
University Press of Kansas
€14.49
Available for download
Persons
Nicholas F. Jacobs is assistant professor of government at Colby College. He is the coauthor of The Rural Voter: The Politics of Place and the Disuniting of America (with Daniel M. Shea) and What Happened to the Vital Center? Presidentialism, Populist Revolt, and the Fracturing of America (with Sidney M. Milkis).
Sidney M. Milkis is the White Burkett Miller Professor of the Department of Politics and Faculty Associate at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia. He is the author of many books, including Theodore Roosevelt, the Progressive Party, and the Transformation of American Democracy from the University Press of Kansas.
Sidney M. Milkis is the White Burkett Miller Professor of the Department of Politics and Faculty Associate at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia. He is the author of many books, including Theodore Roosevelt, the Progressive Party, and the Transformation of American Democracy from the University Press of Kansas.