Abstract
Given the challenges that populist movements worldwide are posing to established democracies, it is important to clarify the language and theory that distinguishes particular forms of authoritarianism. This thesis takes seriously the idea of a political “strongman,” which is always used loosely by journalists and scholars. It attempts to conceptualize a new theoretical framework in which a political strongman is a politician who is characterized by their: masculine personality, close relationship with their state’s coercive apparatus, and reliance on performance and rhetoric. This proposed conceptualization is applied to the case study of Donald J. Trump and his 2016 presidential campaign to investigate the particular meaning of political strongmen in American politics. Using speeches, rallies, and policies from both Trump and his campaign, this work attempts to better understand whether and how Trump fits the conceptualization, and what implications his successful rise to power has had for the health of American democracy.