Trump, Bernie, and the Erosion of Voters’ Agency
May 19, 2016
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A favorite past time of many pundits this cycle has been equating Senator Bernie Sanders to Donald Trump. Many of these equations have been in terms of their authenticity, the resentment their supporters have for “the system,” or, in our case, their lack of support from wealthy donors. Another nonobvious equivalence between Bernie and Trump is their years’ long exposure to media audiences.
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Trump at Celebrity Apprentice Event 2015
Trump has spent 15 years hosting a television reality show, The Apprentice, in which contestants compete for a job as an apprentice to Trump. Bernie’s media background, on the other hand, has been more subdued than Trump’s because for 11 years it consisted of an hour-long weekly appearance on progressive radio host, Thom Hartmann’s show. Although Bernie’s weekly audience was considerably smaller than Trump’s (6.4 to 2.8 million), it exposed him to a large number of progressive listeners. The format of both Trump’s show and Bernie’s weekly segment were similar: an all knowing and wise presence providing key information. Moreover, both shows provided the audience with an intimate sense of knowing Trump and Bernie.
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In contrast to Trump and Bernie, during the same period, voters have been facing what must seem like to them, a decline in their strength and agency (i.e., the ability to take independent action and assume responsibility for one’s own decisions). Average real hourly wages (see below) -- after inflation is taken into account — have been flat or even falling for decades. In addition, research by Martin Gilens (Affluence and Influence: Economic Inequality and Political Power in America) has demonstrated that the policy preferences of high income groups drive policy changes, despite the opposition of low- and middle-income Americans. As a result of the years Trump and Bernie spent on media in powerful roles, the voters who now support them seem to view them as strong and right.
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Thom Hartmann and Bernie Sanders - on Hartmann's show 2011. Politifact
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Lacking a sense of agency themselves, it seems that the voters who support Trump and Bernie are relying on these candidates for agency. As a result, when the candidacy either Trump or Bernie is challenged by competitors, media representatives, or other voters, their supporters may react in a volatile manner because some aspect of their identity is being confronted. For example, some of Bernie’s supporters have characterized some of the procedural obstacles that Bernie has had to overcome as efforts to destroy him. In fact, insiders always have advantages (and disadvantages) not available to outsiders.
Of course, to some extent, voters always identify with the politicians to whom they are committed. Usually, however, voters are able to compartmentalize their political commitments from the rest of their identity. When the candidates from whom voters feel they have received a sense of agency lose the election, one must raise the question about what the consequences of their disillusionment will be. On the one hand, disillusioned voters may become quite volatile and engage in extreme behavior. Historically, this has not been how U.S. voters have reacted. Instead, disillusioned U.S. voters have tended to become lethargic. For Bernie supporters, defeat in the primary process may be channeled into a progressive movement, the first step of which will undoubtedly be the general election. The path for Trump supporters lacks clarity though because what will happen to the Republican itself is not clear. |