There’s been a lot of discussion recently about the guiding principles of President Trump’s administration. Many experts have landed on the term “patrimonial”—so today we are publishing two complementary articles about what exactly this means. The contribution below is by Stephen E. Hanson and Jeffrey S. Kopstein [UC Irvine political science professor] two of America’s leading scholars of this form of government, who guide us through some common misconceptions about patrimonial rule—and its likely consequences for the United States.

For the full story, please visit https://www.persuasion.community/p/sins-of-the-father.