Date
4-2018
Project Type
URC Presentation
College or School
COLA
Class Year
Senior
Department
Communication; Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Major
Communication; Spanish
Faculty Research Advisor
Michael Soha
Abstract
Following the 2016 presidential election of populist outsider Donald Trump, several think pieces throughout the popular press conjectured a comparison between Trump and former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. Citing their populist rhetoric, brash and coarse sense of humor, and shared propensity for fiery tirades against the press, these articles made foreboding predictions about the status of American democracy. However, these short and sometimes anecdotally-based opinion pieces failed to acknowledge several important differences between Trump and Latin American populists like Chávez. This presentation addresses this gap in understanding by evaluating the comparison from an academic perspective. Through in-depth case studies of the political and social contexts of Donald Trump, Hugo Chávez, and another Latin American populist, Rafael Correa, the research will consider the veracity and implications of a comparison among the leaders. Furthermore, the research will explore how these comparisons inform the intersection of government, media, and democracy.
Recommended Citation
Harris, Charlotte Blair, "An American Hugo Chávez? Investigating the Comparisons Between Donald Trump and Latin American Populists" (2018). Undergraduate Research Conference (URC) Student Presentations. 425.
https://scholars.unh.edu/urc/425