The book co-authored by Stephen E. Hanson, William & Mary government professor, and Jeffrey S. Kopstein, UC Irvin political scientist, is The Assault on the State: How the Global Attack on Modern Government Endangers Our Future. In his widely read commentary in The Atlantic, Jonathan Rauch describes the approach this way: “It is not classic authoritarianism—nor is it autocracy, oligarchy, or monarchy. Trump is installing what scholars call patrimonialism.” (italics added). According to Wikipedia, “Patrimonialism is a form of governance in which the ruler governs based on personal loyalties derived from patron-client relations, personal allegiances, kin ties and combinations thereof. Patrimonialism is closely related to corruption, opportunism, and machine politics. It can contribute to underdevelopment and weak state capacity … and it is an approach Trump shares (per Rauch) with Narendra Modi (India), Viktor Orbán (Hungary), and Vladimir Putin (Russia).”

Cover cartoon courtesy of Miseriacomic on Reddit.