Quantitative Analysis of Executive Orders:Is there uniqueness in Trump’s policy?

Abstract

US President Donald Trump is known for his unique character. However, does the notion imply that his policy is unique? Existing studies on presidents have assumed that Trump's policy significantly differs from that of former President Barack Obama due to extremely biased policies, especially foreign policy. To test the validity of such a common view, the study conducted a quantitative text analysis of executive orders issued by both presidents. Results show that (1) there are systematic differences between Obama's and Trump's policy; (2) tracklessness, rather than deflectiveness highlights the uniqueness of Trump's policy; and (3) the uniqueness of Trump's policy is pronounced in domestic rather than foreign policy.