Four more years! (of policy process research in a Trump administration)

Abstract

The newest Trump administration provides numerous opportunities to expand the scope of public policy process scholarship. While it is difficult to predict exactly what the 47th president will do, Trump's record as the 45th president as well as his extensive campaign rhetoric provide clues to his administrative style and policy agenda. This Perspective investigates the ways in which the Trump administration might expand scholarly inquiry into executive policymaking, policy feedback, federalism, identity-based policymaking, and policy entrepreneurs. I offer guiding questions in each of these research domains as well implications for governance in the United States. In general, policy process theories are well-positioned to study the Trump administration as any other new administration; though what we study as a scholarly community should shift with Trump's policy and institutional priorities. In particular, I argue that Trump-47's quid-pro-quo style in an extremely polarized political environment should lead policy scholars to better understand politics in the policy process.