Project 2025

 original

https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf

1. Centralization of Power and Disregard for Bureaucracy

• Detail: The document advocates for a strong, unified executive branch to aggressively pursue its agenda. It proposes dismantling the "Administrative State" by curbing the power of federal agencies and increasing presidential control.

• Sociological Analysis: This reflects an authoritarian tendency to concentrate power in the executive, diminishing the role of checks and balances provided by the bureaucracy. Sociologically, this can lead to:

  • Erosion of Institutional Trust: Undermining the bureaucracy can erode public trust in established institutions, as they are portrayed as obstacles to the popular will.
  • Increased Political Instability: Centralizing power in the executive can destabilize the political system, making it more susceptible to the whims of a single leader.
  • Weakening of Civil Service: Attacking the civil service can demoralize public employees and politicize government functions, reducing efficiency and expertise.

2. Imposition of Social and Cultural Values

• Detail: The document promotes the use of federal power to enforce specific social and cultural values, particularly concerning issues like abortion and gender identity.

• Sociological Analysis: This demonstrates an authoritarian approach to social issues, seeking to impose a single set of values on a diverse society. Sociologically, this can result in:

  • Cultural Conflict: Efforts to enforce particular values can lead to intense cultural conflict and polarization, dividing society along ideological lines.
  • Marginalization of Minority Groups: The imposition of majority values can marginalize minority groups and suppress their rights and identities.
  • Erosion of Social Tolerance: Authoritarian approaches to culture can erode social tolerance and pluralism, creating a less open and inclusive society.

3. Economic Nationalism and Protectionism

• Detail: The document advocates for reducing reliance on foreign supply chains and taking a confrontational stance towards China's economic influence.

• Sociological Analysis: This reflects economic nationalism, which can align with fascist ideologies that prioritize national interests above global cooperation. Sociologically, this can lead to:

  • Increased Social Cohesion (in the short term): Nationalism can create a sense of unity and shared purpose, particularly in response to perceived external threats.
  • International Conflict: Protectionist trade policies and aggressive economic nationalism can strain international relations and increase the risk of conflict.
  • Xenophobia and Social Exclusion: Nationalist sentiment can foster xenophobia and social exclusion, targeting immigrants and foreign populations.

4. The Language of Crisis and Urgency

• Detail: The document frequently uses language that emphasizes a sense of crisis and the need for immediate, drastic action to "save" the country.

• Sociological Analysis: This is a common tactic in authoritarian movements, creating a sense of urgency to justify the rapid implementation of policies without extensive deliberation or democratic process. Sociologically, this can result in:

  • Suppression of Dissent: In a crisis atmosphere, dissent is often portrayed as unpatriotic or even treasonous, limiting free debate and opposition.
  • Rapid Social Change: A sense of urgency can be used to push through radical changes to social and political structures, often with unintended consequences.
  • Increased Anxiety and Insecurity: The constant emphasis on crisis can increase social anxiety and insecurity, making people more willing to accept authoritarian measures.

It is important to note that while these elements have sociological parallels with authoritarian and fascist tendencies, whether the document is authoritarian or fascist is a matter of interpretation and debate.

The document includes a section called "Authors" that provides a short biography of each author. Generally, the authors appear to have been referenced because of their subject matter expertise and/or experience in the area they wrote about. For example:

• Daren Bakst is Deputy Director, Center for Energy and Environment, and Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and wrote the section on the Department of Agriculture.

• Jonathan Berry is managing partner at Boyden Gray & Associates PLLC, and served as acting Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor, and wrote the section on the Department of Labor.

• Lindsey M. Burke is Director of the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation, and wrote the section on the Department of Education.

• David R. Burton is Senior Fellow in Economic Policy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation, and wrote sections on the Department of Commerce and Financial Regulatory Agencies.

• Adam Candeub is a professor of law at Michigan State University, and wrote the section on the Federal Trade Commission.

• Dustin J. Carmack is Research Fellow for Cybersecurity, Intelligence, and Emerging Technologies in the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, and wrote the section on the Intelligence Community.

• Brendan Carr has nearly 20 years of private-sector and public-sector experience in communications and tech policy and currently serves as the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, and wrote the section on the Federal Communications Commission.

• Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., MD, is Founder and Chairman of the American Cornerstone Institute and previously served as the 17th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and wrote the section on the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

• Ken Cuccinelli served as Acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2019 and then, from November 2019 through the end of the Trump Administration, as Acting Deputy Secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and wrote the section on the Department of Homeland Security.

• Rick Dearborn served as Deputy Chief of Staff for President Donald Trump and was responsible for the day-to-day operations of five separate departments of the Executive Office of the President, and wrote the section on the White House Office.

• Veronique de Rugy is the George Gibbs Chair in Political Economy and Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and wrote a section on why the Export-Import Bank should be abolished.

• Donald Devine is Senior Scholar at The Fund for American Studies in Washington, DC, and was President Ronald Reagan’s first-term Office of Personnel Management Director, and wrote a section on Central Personnel Agencies.

• Diana Furchtgott-Roth, an Oxford-educated economist, directs the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment at The Heritage Foundation and is adjunct professor of economics at George Washington University, and wrote the section on the Department of Transportation.

• Thomas F. Gilman served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Administration and Chief Financial Officer of the U.S. Department of Commerce in the Trump Administration, and wrote a section on the Department of Commerce.

• Mandy M. Gunasekara is a principal at Section VII Strategies, a Senior Policy Analyst at the Independent Women’s Forum, and Visiting Fellow in the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment at The Heritage Foundation, and wrote the section on the Environmental Protection Agency.

• Gene Hamilton is Vice-President and General Counsel of America First Legal Foundation, and wrote the section on the Department of Justice.

• Jennifer Hazelton has worked as a senior strategic consultant for the Department of Defense in Industrial Base Policy and has held senior positions at USAID, the Export–Import Bank of the United States, and the State Department, and wrote the section on the case for the Export-Import Bank.

• Karen Kerrigan is President and CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, and wrote the section on the Small Business Administration.

• Dennis Dean Kirk is Associate Director for Personnel Policy with the 2025 Presidential Transition Project at The Heritage Foundation, and wrote a section on Central Personnel Agencies.

• Kent Lassman is President and CEO of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and wrote the section on the case for Free Trade.

• Bernard L. McNamee is an energy and regulatory attorney with a major law firm and was formerly a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and wrote the section on the Department of Energy and Related Commissions.

• Christopher Miller served in several positions during the Trump Administration, including as Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense, and wrote the section on the Department of Defense.

• Stephen Moore is a conservative economist and author, and wrote a section on the Department of the Treasury.

• Mora Namdar is an attorney and Senior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, and wrote the section on the U.S. Agency for Global Media Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

• Peter Navarro holds a PhD in economics from Harvard and was one of only three senior White House officials to serve with Donald Trump from the 2016 campaign to the end of the President’s first term, and wrote the section on the case for Fair Trade.

• William Perry Pendley was an attorney on Capitol Hill, a senior official for President Ronald Reagan, and leader of the Bureau of Land Management for President Donald Trump, and wrote the section on the Department of the Interior.

• Max Primorac is Director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation, and wrote the section on the Agency for International Development.

• Roger Severino is Vice President of Domestic Policy at The Heritage Foundation, and wrote the section on the Department of Health and Human Services.

• Kiron K. Skinner is President and CEO of the Foundation for America and the World, Taube Professor of International Relations and Politics at Pepperdine University, and wrote the section on the Department of State.

The reference to these authors appears to lend credibility to the ideas presented in the book.