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

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 election. 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.

Civics and civility: A darn on threadbare fabric or the fabric itself?

“…Postcolonial theory challenges the portrayal of all non‐White minorities as one collective hegemonic identity, opening the door to more nuanced theory that better reflects the complexity of the real world. Finally, Wright and Thomas (2023) examine how former president Donald Trump's actions and rhetoric increased individual, institutional, and systemic racism and violence. They then discuss the role civilians (including professional athletes) played by engaging in protests and the 2020 election.…”

Playing Offense: How Athletes are Impacting a Changing Administrative State

“…The American administrative state has faced extraordinary challenges over the past two years, many of which highlight profound disparities (Chatters et al, 2021; Vilda et al, 2021; Yearby, 2021) stemming from state ineptitude in a time of turmoil and government distrust. The May 2020 murder of Minneapolis resident George Floyd at the hands of then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin ignited domestic discussion systemic racism and White nationalism (Thomas & Wright, 2021; Wright & Thomas, 2022). Floyd’s death coupled with an overwhelming swell of support for Black Lives Matter (BLM, hereafter) generated the largest protests in the nation’s history in July 2020 (Buchanan et al, 2020), with current and former Black athletes among the forefront (Thomas & Wright, 2021; Wright & Thomas, 2022).…”

“…The May 2020 murder of Minneapolis resident George Floyd at the hands of then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin ignited domestic discussion systemic racism and White nationalism (Thomas & Wright, 2021; Wright & Thomas, 2022). Floyd’s death coupled with an overwhelming swell of support for Black Lives Matter (BLM, hereafter) generated the largest protests in the nation’s history in July 2020 (Buchanan et al, 2020), with current and former Black athletes among the forefront (Thomas & Wright, 2021; Wright & Thomas, 2022). Amid this confluence of events, we are witnessing an administrative state positioned to make policy changes based on the influence of powerful citizen actors who have exercised an impact on public opinion, at a specific moment in time.…”

Game On, Washington! Examining American Sport’s Response to the Uvalde Massacre

“…Recent public administration literature has described the recent impacts that athletes from marginalized communities have had on the administrative state, with a particular focus on social justice issues (Thomas & Levine Daniel, 2022;Thomas & Wright, 2021;Wright & Thomas, 2022). In prior years, athletes and sports franchises from the National Basketball Association (NBA) have faced calls to 'shut up and dribble' (Niven, 2021).…”