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BEFORE EPIPHANY: AN ASSESSMENT OF DONALD TRUMP’S CRISIS LEADERSHIP ON THE EVE OF THE COVID -19 PANDEMIC

Year 2022, Volume: 36 Issue: 2, 739 - 758, 29.06.2022
https://doi.org/10.48070/erciyesakademi.1103913

Abstract

In management discipline, the words “crisis” and “change” are usually mentioned together at many points. In the discipline of psychology, the word “epiphany” represents the positive development of individuals by virtue of sudden and drastic changes in their lives. In this context, it is possible to say that the covid-19 pandemic has been an epiphanic experience not only for underdeveloped countries but also for super-powerful countries such as the U.S. Because the U.S, which faced the covid-19 pandemic under the leadership of Donald Trump, unexpectedly failed in this struggle and experienced a deep epiphany. In this case study, the role of the leader of the U.S, Donald Trump, has been tried to analyse in terms of crisis leadership during the pandemic response phase. More specifically, a few steps have been taken back to look at what Trump possessed on the eve of the crisis and how he responded to the crisis at the onset of the pandemic outbreak. Thus, it has been tried to determine the distance (gap) between Trump's potential power and his kinetic power in the context of the crisis leadership framework. To do this, we have closely examined Trump’s pandemic leadership before the first case date (21 January) and from that date to National Emergency Announcement (March 13) period through the lens of “The Framework for Assessment of Crisis Leadership” proposed by Boin et al. (2013). In the light of events and testimonies, it is possible to say that Trump's pandemic response has negatively affected both his political destiny and the destiny of the Americans.

References

  • Adolph, C, Amano, K., Bang-Jensen, B., Fullman, N., & Wilkerson, J. (2020). Pandemic politics: Timing state-level social distancing responses to COVID-19, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law; 46(2), 211–233. https://doi.org/ 10.1215/03616878-8802162
  • Altheide, D. L. (2020). Pandemic in the time of Trump: Digital media logic and deadly politics. Symbolic Interaction, 43(3), 514-540. https://doi.org/10.1002/ symb.501
  • Ansell, C., Boin, A., & Keller, A. (2010). Managing transboundary crises: identifying building blocks of an effective response system. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 18(4), 205–217.
  • https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5973.2010.00620.x
  • Ansell, C., Boin, A., & 't Hart, P. (2014). Political leadership in times of crisis. In R.A.W. Rhodes & P. Hart (Eds.), Chapter 28, The Oxford Handbook of Political Leadership: OUP Oxford.
  • https://doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199653881.013.035
  • Balcı, R. (1999). Sarıkamış haraketi (Yayınlanmamış doktora tezi). İstanbul Üniversitesi Atatürk ve İnkilap Tarihi Enstitüsü.
  • Bennett, B., & Berenson, T. (2020, November 7). How Donald Trump lost election. https://time.com/5907973/ donald-trump-loses-2020-election/
  • Berg, B. L., & Lune, H. (2019). Sosyal bilimlerde nitel araştırma yöntemleri (Ed. Prof. Dr. Asım Arı). Konya Eğitim Yayınevi
  • Boin, A., & Hart, P., & Kuipers, S. (2018). The crisis approach. Springer International Publishing, 23-38.
  • https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63254-4_2
  • Boin, A. (2009). The new world of crises and crisis management: implications for policymaking and research. Review of Policy Research, 26(4), 367-377. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-1338.2009.00389.x
  • Boin, A. Overdijk, W. & Kuipers, S. (2013). Leadership in times of crisis: a framework for assessment. International Review of Public Administration. 18(1). 79-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/12294659.2013.10805241
  • Boin, A., Lodge, M., & Luesink, M. (2020) Learning from the COVID-19 crisis: An initial analysis of national responses, Policy Design and Practice, 3(3), 189-204. https://doi.org/10.1080/25741292.2020.1823670
  • Boin, A., McConnel, A., & Hart, P. (2021). Governing the pandemic, the politics of navigating a mega-crisis, Palgrave Macmillan open access. https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12757
  • Boin, A., & Hart, P. (2003). Public leadership in times of crisis: mission impossible. Public Administration Review, 63(5), 544-553 Doi:10.1111/1540-6210.00318. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6210.00318
  • Bremmer, I. (2019, September 10). We’re in a geopolitical recession, Trump isn’t the cause, he’s a symptom. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/09/10/were-geo-political- recession- trump-isnt-cause-hes-symptom/
  • Brinu, F. (2020, May 2). She predicted the coronavirus. what does she foresee next? New York times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/02/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-prediction-laurie-garrett.
  • Bryant, N. (2020, November 7). US Election 2020: Why Donald Trump lost. https://www.bbc.com/news/ election-us-2020-54788636
  • Cairney, P., & Wellstead, A. (2020). Covid-19: Effective policymaking depends on trust in experts, politicians, and the public. Policy Design and Practice, 4(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/25741292.2020.1837466
  • Carter, D. P. & May, P. J. (2020). Making sense of the U.S covid-19 pandemic response: A policy regime perspective. Administrative theory of praxis, 42(2), 265-277. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/10841806.2020.1758991
  • CDC, (2021, March 21). Communication during a crisis is different. https://emergency.cdc.gov/cerc/resources/pdf/leaders_cerc_zcard.pdf
  • Chang, M., & Baek, J., & Park, D. (2020). Lessons from South Korea regarding the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak. Healthcare, 8, 229. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ healthcare8030229
  • Coombs, W.T. (2007, November 10). Crisis management and communications. The Institute for Public Relations, December, 1-17. https://instituteforpr.org/crisis-management-and-communications.
  • Coombs, W.T. (2012). Parameters for crisis communication. The handbook of crisis communication, (Ed. Dr. W. Timothy Coombs et al.), Chapter 1, 17-53 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
  • Crayne, M. P., & Medeiros, K. E. (2021). Making sense of crisis: Charismatic, ideological, and pragmatic leadership in response to COVID-19. American Psychologist, 76(3), 462-474. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/amp0000715
  • Dale, D. (2020, March 15). Analysis: Trump says the pandemic crisis was ‘unforeseen’ – but lots of people foresaw it. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/15/politics/fact-check-trumpcoronavirus- nobody-predicted/index.html
  • Farmer, B.C. (2020, March 8). March 2020: Dr. Anthony Fauci talks with Dr Jon LaPook about COVID-19. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/preventing-coronavirus-facemask-60-minutes-2020-03-08/
  • Harris, S., & Miller, G., & Dawsey, J., & Nakashima, E. (2020, March 20). US intelligence reports from january and february warned about likely a pandemic.
  • https://www.washington-post.com/national-security/us-intelligence-reports-from-january-and-february-warned-about-a-likely-pandemic/2020/03/20/299d8cda-6ad5-11ea-b5f1- a5a804158597_story.html
  • Jobs, S. (2005, June 14). You’ve got to find what you love. https://news.stanford.edu/ 2005/06/14/jobs-061505/
  • Kalkman, J. P. (2019). Sensemaking questions in crisis response teams. Disaster Prevention and Management, 28(5), pp. 649-660. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPM-08-2018
  • Kertesz, F. & Berzleja, Z. (2020). Donald Trump’s communication during the covid-19 pandemic on twitter (master thesis). Malmö University Media and Communication Studies.
  • Klenke, K. (2015). Qualitative research in the study of leadership (second edition)”. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, UK.
  • Ladkin, D. (2020). What Donald Trump’s response to Covid-19 teaches us: It’s time for our romance with leaders to end. Leadership, 1-6. https://doi.org/ 10.1177%2F1742715020929134
  • Luecke, R. (2008). Kriz yönetimi, felaketleri önleme becerinizi geliştirin. Türkiye İş Bankası Yayınları, İstanbul
  • Maak, T., & Pless, N. M. & Wohlgezogen, F. (2021). The fault Lines of leadership: Lessons from the global covid-19 crisis. Journal of Change Management, 21(1), 66-86. https://doi.org/10.1080/14697017.2021.1861724
  • Merriam, S. B. (2018). Qualitative research Nitel araştırma desen ve uygulama için rehber (Çev. Prof. Dr. Selahattin Turan). Nobel Yayıncılık.
  • Meydan, S. (2018, December 31). Sarıkamış dramı. Sozcu Daily Newspaper, https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2018/yazarlar/sinan-meydan/104-yil-once-donarak-olduler-sarikamis-drami-2925291/
  • Mirvis, P. H. (2020). Reflections: US Coronavirus crisis management–learning from failure January–April 2020, Journal of Change Management, 20(4), 283-311. https://doi.org/10.1080/14697017.2020.1836721
  • Osterholm M.T., & Olshaker, M. (2020). Chronicle of a pandemic foretold: learning from the COVID-19 failure before the next outbreak arrives. Foreign Affairs. July/August, 99 (4), 10-24.
  • Pilkington, E., & McCarthy, T. (2020, 28 March). The missing six weeks: How Trump failed the biggest test of his life. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/28/trump-coronavirus-politics- us-health-disaster
  • Rosenthal, U.,’t Hart, P., & Charles, M.T. (1989). Coping with crises. The Management of disasters, riots, and terrorism. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36(3), 501-504.
  • Rutledge, P.E. (2020). Trump, Covid-19, and the war on expertise. American Review of Public Administration, 50 (6-7), 505-511. https://doi.org/ 10.1177%2F0275074020941-683
  • Sauer, M. A., Truelove, S., Gerste, A. K. and Limaye, R. J. (2021). A failure to communicate. How public messaging has strained the covid-19 response in the U.S. Health Security, 19(1), 65-74. http://doi.org/10.1089/hs.2020.0190
  • Today (2020, February 29). Dr. Fauci on coronavirus fears: No need to change lifestyle yet. https://www.today.com/video/dr-fauci-on-coronavirus-fears-no-need-to-change-lifestyle-yet- 79684677616
  • Weick, K. E., Sutcliffe, K. M., & Obstfeld, D. (2005). Organizing and the process of sensemaking. Organization Science, 16(4), 409–421.
  • Yamey, G. (2020, April 24). Donald Trump: A political Determinant of covid-19. BMJ, 369 Published.
  • Zenko, M. (2020, March 25). The coronavirus is the worst intelligence failure in U.S. history. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/29/the-coronavirus is-the-worst-intelligence-failure-in-us-history

EPİFANİDEN ÖNCE: COVİD-19 PANDEMİ ARİFESİNDE DONALD TRUMP’IN KRİZ LİDERLİĞİNİN DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİ

Year 2022, Volume: 36 Issue: 2, 739 - 758, 29.06.2022
https://doi.org/10.48070/erciyesakademi.1103913

Abstract

Yönetim disiplininde “kriz” ve “değişim” kelimeleri genellikle birçok noktada birlikte anılır. Psikoloji disiplininde “epifani” kelimesi, bireylerin yaşamlarında ani ve şiddetli değişimler nedeniyle olumlu gelişimini temsil etmektedir. Bu bağlamda covid-19 pandemisinin sadece az gelişmiş ülkeler için değil, ABD gibi süper güçlü ülkeler için de epifanik bir deneyim olduğunu söylemek mümkündür. Çünkü, Donald Trump liderliğinde Covid-19 salgınıyla karşı karşıya kalan ABD, beklenmedik bir şekilde bu mücadelede başarısız olmuş ve derin bir epifani yaşamıştır. Bu vaka çalışmasında, pandemi müdahale sürecinde ABD lideri Donald Trump'ın kriz liderliği açısından rolü analiz edilmeye çalışılmıştır. Daha spesifik olarak, krizin arifesinde Trump'ın neye sahip olduğuna ve pandemi salgınının başlangıcında krize nasıl tepki verdiğine bakmak için birkaç adım geri gidilmiştir. Böylece kriz liderliği çerçevesi bağlamında Trump'ın potansiyel gücü ile kinetik gücü arasındaki mesafe (boşluk) belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Bunu yapmak için, ilk vaka tarihinden (21 Ocak) önce ve bu tarihten Ulusal Acil Durum Duyurusu (13 Mart) dönemine kadar Trump'ın pandemi liderliğini Boin ve Vd.. (2013) önerdiği “Kriz Liderliğini Değerlendirme Çerçevesi” merceğiyle yakından inceledik. Olaylar ve tanıklıklar ışığında Trump'ın pandemi yanıtının hem kendisinin siyasi kaderini hem de Amerikalıların kaderini olumsuz etkilediğini söylemek mümkündür.

References

  • Adolph, C, Amano, K., Bang-Jensen, B., Fullman, N., & Wilkerson, J. (2020). Pandemic politics: Timing state-level social distancing responses to COVID-19, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law; 46(2), 211–233. https://doi.org/ 10.1215/03616878-8802162
  • Altheide, D. L. (2020). Pandemic in the time of Trump: Digital media logic and deadly politics. Symbolic Interaction, 43(3), 514-540. https://doi.org/10.1002/ symb.501
  • Ansell, C., Boin, A., & Keller, A. (2010). Managing transboundary crises: identifying building blocks of an effective response system. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 18(4), 205–217.
  • https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5973.2010.00620.x
  • Ansell, C., Boin, A., & 't Hart, P. (2014). Political leadership in times of crisis. In R.A.W. Rhodes & P. Hart (Eds.), Chapter 28, The Oxford Handbook of Political Leadership: OUP Oxford.
  • https://doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199653881.013.035
  • Balcı, R. (1999). Sarıkamış haraketi (Yayınlanmamış doktora tezi). İstanbul Üniversitesi Atatürk ve İnkilap Tarihi Enstitüsü.
  • Bennett, B., & Berenson, T. (2020, November 7). How Donald Trump lost election. https://time.com/5907973/ donald-trump-loses-2020-election/
  • Berg, B. L., & Lune, H. (2019). Sosyal bilimlerde nitel araştırma yöntemleri (Ed. Prof. Dr. Asım Arı). Konya Eğitim Yayınevi
  • Boin, A., & Hart, P., & Kuipers, S. (2018). The crisis approach. Springer International Publishing, 23-38.
  • https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63254-4_2
  • Boin, A. (2009). The new world of crises and crisis management: implications for policymaking and research. Review of Policy Research, 26(4), 367-377. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-1338.2009.00389.x
  • Boin, A. Overdijk, W. & Kuipers, S. (2013). Leadership in times of crisis: a framework for assessment. International Review of Public Administration. 18(1). 79-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/12294659.2013.10805241
  • Boin, A., Lodge, M., & Luesink, M. (2020) Learning from the COVID-19 crisis: An initial analysis of national responses, Policy Design and Practice, 3(3), 189-204. https://doi.org/10.1080/25741292.2020.1823670
  • Boin, A., McConnel, A., & Hart, P. (2021). Governing the pandemic, the politics of navigating a mega-crisis, Palgrave Macmillan open access. https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12757
  • Boin, A., & Hart, P. (2003). Public leadership in times of crisis: mission impossible. Public Administration Review, 63(5), 544-553 Doi:10.1111/1540-6210.00318. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6210.00318
  • Bremmer, I. (2019, September 10). We’re in a geopolitical recession, Trump isn’t the cause, he’s a symptom. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/09/10/were-geo-political- recession- trump-isnt-cause-hes-symptom/
  • Brinu, F. (2020, May 2). She predicted the coronavirus. what does she foresee next? New York times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/02/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-prediction-laurie-garrett.
  • Bryant, N. (2020, November 7). US Election 2020: Why Donald Trump lost. https://www.bbc.com/news/ election-us-2020-54788636
  • Cairney, P., & Wellstead, A. (2020). Covid-19: Effective policymaking depends on trust in experts, politicians, and the public. Policy Design and Practice, 4(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/25741292.2020.1837466
  • Carter, D. P. & May, P. J. (2020). Making sense of the U.S covid-19 pandemic response: A policy regime perspective. Administrative theory of praxis, 42(2), 265-277. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/10841806.2020.1758991
  • CDC, (2021, March 21). Communication during a crisis is different. https://emergency.cdc.gov/cerc/resources/pdf/leaders_cerc_zcard.pdf
  • Chang, M., & Baek, J., & Park, D. (2020). Lessons from South Korea regarding the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak. Healthcare, 8, 229. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ healthcare8030229
  • Coombs, W.T. (2007, November 10). Crisis management and communications. The Institute for Public Relations, December, 1-17. https://instituteforpr.org/crisis-management-and-communications.
  • Coombs, W.T. (2012). Parameters for crisis communication. The handbook of crisis communication, (Ed. Dr. W. Timothy Coombs et al.), Chapter 1, 17-53 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
  • Crayne, M. P., & Medeiros, K. E. (2021). Making sense of crisis: Charismatic, ideological, and pragmatic leadership in response to COVID-19. American Psychologist, 76(3), 462-474. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/amp0000715
  • Dale, D. (2020, March 15). Analysis: Trump says the pandemic crisis was ‘unforeseen’ – but lots of people foresaw it. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/15/politics/fact-check-trumpcoronavirus- nobody-predicted/index.html
  • Farmer, B.C. (2020, March 8). March 2020: Dr. Anthony Fauci talks with Dr Jon LaPook about COVID-19. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/preventing-coronavirus-facemask-60-minutes-2020-03-08/
  • Harris, S., & Miller, G., & Dawsey, J., & Nakashima, E. (2020, March 20). US intelligence reports from january and february warned about likely a pandemic.
  • https://www.washington-post.com/national-security/us-intelligence-reports-from-january-and-february-warned-about-a-likely-pandemic/2020/03/20/299d8cda-6ad5-11ea-b5f1- a5a804158597_story.html
  • Jobs, S. (2005, June 14). You’ve got to find what you love. https://news.stanford.edu/ 2005/06/14/jobs-061505/
  • Kalkman, J. P. (2019). Sensemaking questions in crisis response teams. Disaster Prevention and Management, 28(5), pp. 649-660. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPM-08-2018
  • Kertesz, F. & Berzleja, Z. (2020). Donald Trump’s communication during the covid-19 pandemic on twitter (master thesis). Malmö University Media and Communication Studies.
  • Klenke, K. (2015). Qualitative research in the study of leadership (second edition)”. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, UK.
  • Ladkin, D. (2020). What Donald Trump’s response to Covid-19 teaches us: It’s time for our romance with leaders to end. Leadership, 1-6. https://doi.org/ 10.1177%2F1742715020929134
  • Luecke, R. (2008). Kriz yönetimi, felaketleri önleme becerinizi geliştirin. Türkiye İş Bankası Yayınları, İstanbul
  • Maak, T., & Pless, N. M. & Wohlgezogen, F. (2021). The fault Lines of leadership: Lessons from the global covid-19 crisis. Journal of Change Management, 21(1), 66-86. https://doi.org/10.1080/14697017.2021.1861724
  • Merriam, S. B. (2018). Qualitative research Nitel araştırma desen ve uygulama için rehber (Çev. Prof. Dr. Selahattin Turan). Nobel Yayıncılık.
  • Meydan, S. (2018, December 31). Sarıkamış dramı. Sozcu Daily Newspaper, https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2018/yazarlar/sinan-meydan/104-yil-once-donarak-olduler-sarikamis-drami-2925291/
  • Mirvis, P. H. (2020). Reflections: US Coronavirus crisis management–learning from failure January–April 2020, Journal of Change Management, 20(4), 283-311. https://doi.org/10.1080/14697017.2020.1836721
  • Osterholm M.T., & Olshaker, M. (2020). Chronicle of a pandemic foretold: learning from the COVID-19 failure before the next outbreak arrives. Foreign Affairs. July/August, 99 (4), 10-24.
  • Pilkington, E., & McCarthy, T. (2020, 28 March). The missing six weeks: How Trump failed the biggest test of his life. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/28/trump-coronavirus-politics- us-health-disaster
  • Rosenthal, U.,’t Hart, P., & Charles, M.T. (1989). Coping with crises. The Management of disasters, riots, and terrorism. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36(3), 501-504.
  • Rutledge, P.E. (2020). Trump, Covid-19, and the war on expertise. American Review of Public Administration, 50 (6-7), 505-511. https://doi.org/ 10.1177%2F0275074020941-683
  • Sauer, M. A., Truelove, S., Gerste, A. K. and Limaye, R. J. (2021). A failure to communicate. How public messaging has strained the covid-19 response in the U.S. Health Security, 19(1), 65-74. http://doi.org/10.1089/hs.2020.0190
  • Today (2020, February 29). Dr. Fauci on coronavirus fears: No need to change lifestyle yet. https://www.today.com/video/dr-fauci-on-coronavirus-fears-no-need-to-change-lifestyle-yet- 79684677616
  • Weick, K. E., Sutcliffe, K. M., & Obstfeld, D. (2005). Organizing and the process of sensemaking. Organization Science, 16(4), 409–421.
  • Yamey, G. (2020, April 24). Donald Trump: A political Determinant of covid-19. BMJ, 369 Published.
  • Zenko, M. (2020, March 25). The coronavirus is the worst intelligence failure in U.S. history. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/29/the-coronavirus is-the-worst-intelligence-failure-in-us-history
There are 49 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Oktay Balcı 0000-0002-0974-3850

Cengiz Ağ 0000-0003-3610-4920

Publication Date June 29, 2022
Submission Date April 15, 2022
Published in Issue Year 2022 Volume: 36 Issue: 2

Cite

APA Balcı, O., & Ağ, C. (2022). BEFORE EPIPHANY: AN ASSESSMENT OF DONALD TRUMP’S CRISIS LEADERSHIP ON THE EVE OF THE COVID -19 PANDEMIC. Erciyes Akademi, 36(2), 739-758. https://doi.org/10.48070/erciyesakademi.1103913

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