From Reaganism to Trumpism: Anti-Government Narratives and the U.S. Federal Career Service

Abstract

One of the most critical foundations of the United States governance system is the non-partisanship of the federal career service, which has faced intensifying attacks powered by presidential anti-government narratives. This dissertation examines the anti-government narratives of Presidents Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, as two prominent conservative presidents who have championed anti-government narratives and actions, and their relationship to federal career employees' organizational commitment and retention decisions. The dissertation argues that these two presidential narratives evolved from one another but also differ in degree and kind. The study analyzed ninety-nine presidential written documents and three hundred ninety-one speeches through manifest, latent, and cross-application coding, complemented by semi-structured interviews with current and former federal career employees. The analysis shows that presidential anti-government narratives have shifted from Reagan's structural and abstract criticism to Trump's personal delegitimization of federal career employees. Trump's narrative includes multiple conspiratorial framings of federal employees as part of the deep state, which has no precedent in Reagan's anti-government narrative. The dissertation aims at systematically examining the relationship between presidential narratives and federal workforce dynamics. This relationship is critical for sustaining a competent, non-partisan career federal workforce. The dissertation finds that the sustained attacks on the legitimacy of the federal career employees from the head of the executive branch might relate strongly to their organizational commitment and, ultimately, their decisions to remain in federal service. Finally, this dissertation could work as a guide for future presidents and policymakers to understand the power of words on the attitudes and decisions of the federal workforce.