Aftershock or Shock Wave? An Assessment of the 2016 Presidential Election from the Perspective of the ‘Obama Legacy’

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Abstract

This paper explores the hypothesis that the 2016 presidential electoral outcome reflected a momentum building over the course of the eight years of the Obama era burdened by the hardening struggle of polarized politics, sharply divided political parties and a public energized by identity politics. Examining data over the course of three election cycles—2008–2016—and drawing on electoral vote results at the county level, this paper provides evidence to support the final conclusion that the stunning outcome delivered in the early morning hours of November 9, 2016 to the American public was indeed an aftershock to a previous building pressure. These pressures were emanating from an electorate growing increasingly less willing to endorse the Obama legacy shaped around notions of post-partisan republicanism and principled pluralism.

Keywords

Presidential legacy Identity politics Principled pluralism Post-partisanship Polarization American elections Electoral coalitions Partisanship Demographic change 
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Copyright information

© Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH 2018

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.College StationUSA

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