Is President Trump a Fascist

“Is President Trump a Fascist?’ A fascist is a politician who does not believe in democracy, who would prefer to rule as a dictator. Many of his critics have long accused Trump him of fascist tendencies, while his supporters have accused his critics of bias against Trump. The question of whether or not Trump is a fascist was recently raised in response to a widely reported incident in Washington DC during the protests following the killing of Lloyd George. The essay will be 3-4 pages. It will include: 1. An overview of the protest movement. 2. A description of the incident in Washington DC 3. The arguments for seeing Trump as a fascist 4. The arguments against seeing Trump as a fascist 5. Your opinion: Trump is/is not a fascist. I have provided research materials for each part of the essay. You are welcome to use other materials available on the Internet. In addition to Google Search, I have provided left-wing and right-wing search engines, left-wing for radical, liberal, socialist sources, right-wing for conservative and libertarian sources. To decide whether or not Trump is a fascist, you will need a good working definition of fascism. I have provided some sources on fascism and you are of course welcome to do additional research. General Instructions There are three stages to the writing process: Research, Writing and Revision. In each stage, certain skills come into play. Research 1. To begin the writing process, the writer should read broadly on the subject. As the writing project develops, the writer should search for specific information and sources necessary for the coherence of the essay. 2. The writer must distinguish between: a. statements of fact and arguments. b. news sources and argumentative sources. c. left-wing and right-wing arguments. 3. The writer must understand the larger concepts relevant to the essay, for example, fascism. Writing 1. The writing should favor concrete details over abstract ideas. Details include names of people, organizations, and government organizations; dates, places, and events. 2. When discussing arguments, the writing must include ample quotation. 3. The writing must include statistics—numbers that describe a situation—where necessary. 4. Paragraphs should be 6-8 sentences long and should be devoted to a single idea. 5. Paragraphs should begin with a thesis sentence stating the idea of the paragraph. 6. Each sentence in the paragraph should be clearly relevant to the idea of the paragraph. Revision 1. The key to good writing is rewriting. Essays require multiple drafts and constant efforts to improve the language. 2. Writers must strive to eliminate wordiness. Wordiness means there are many unnecessary words in a sentence. Writers must shift words and phrases around to find the most direct, uncomplicated way to say a thing. 3. Essays must be carefully proofread and errors of grammar, punctuation and sentence structure must be corrected. Detailed Instructions List of Paragraphs 1. Introduction (forthcoming) 2. Overview of Protests 3. Description of the Incident 4. Definition of Fascism 5. Two paragraphs: Arguments that Trump is a fascist 6. Two paragraphs: Arguments that Trump is not a fascist 7. Two paragraphs: Trump is or is not a fascist (your opinion) 8. Conclusion The overview of the protests might include such things as: 1. Causes of the protest 2. Extent of the protests 3. Who are the protestors? 4. Demands of the protestors 5. Protestor Slogans 6. Quotes from protestors 7. Peaceful vs violent protest 8. Police reaction to the protests 9. Statistics: number of protests, number of protestors The description of the incident should include: 1. The clearing of the protestors from outside the Whitehouse 2. The participation of military officials 3. The walk to the church to hold up the bible 4. Trump calls for the use of the military against the protestors The definition of fascism must be in your own words, not a cut and pasted dictionary definition. It should include references to the history of fascism in Europe and the United States. Arguments that Trump is or is not a fascist 1. Criticisms of Trump must be attributed to critics of trump. Do not state criticisms of Trump as if they are your opinions. 2. If you are referring general, widespread criticisms of Trump, attribute them to “Critics of Trump argue that . . .” 3. If you are referring to a specific author, use the author’s last name only: “Smith argues that . . .” 4. Paraphrase the criticisms of Trump, i.e., put them in your own words. 5. Include short quotations in your paraphrases. Here is an example from the New York Times: Bouie argues that Trumpism manifests seven hallmarks of fascism, including a “popular elitism” that promises every citizen that they’re part of “the best people of the world.” 6. Use two or three sources in each paragraph. Group similar criticisms in each paragraph. 7. Follow the same procedures for the Trump supporters who argue that Trump is not a fascist. Opinion paragraphs Begin each paragraph with a topic sentence stating the reason you think Trump is or is not a fascist. Do not use “I.” Use paraphrases with short quotes from sources to back up your argument.