AGING POLITICS IN THE TRUMP ERA

摘要

The surprise 2016 election of Donald Trump to the presidency has shifted the foundations of the American political system after eight years of progressive policy leadership under Barack Obama. Combined with Republican control of Congress and most state governments, the policies, priorities, and proposals of the Trump administration have important ramifications for all spheres of American life. Nowhere is this clearer than with older Americans who disproportionately supported President Trump’s election, but are among those most at risk should enactment of the Republican Party’s conservative agenda come to pass. Changes in tax policy and immigration enforcement have already been enacted and a conservative justice appointed to the Supreme Court. The Affordable Care Act has been undermined through legislation and executive action. Radical departures to the structure and financing of Medicaid and Medicare may be forthcoming, despite campaign promises that neither program would be touched. The special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the election is ongoing. Broader questions about the fitness, legitimacy, and ethics of the President and his administration permeate the national discourse, not to mention the President’s reckless disregard for core social and political institutions. It is against this backdrop that this panel assembles leading practitioners and experts to examine aging politics in the Trump era. Participants include: Robert Hudson (aging politics), Larry Povlivka (voting), Leena Sharma (voting), and Jacqueline Angel (disparities/immigration). Edward Alan Miller will chair the panel; Pamela Nadash will serve as co-chair and Michael Gusmano as discussant.