The Analysis of Natural Selection Model in the Selection and Retention of the Desired Collective Behavior of Voting

Introduction

The concept of natural selection has been used to explain the 2016 unexpected victory of Donald Trump in the United States’ presidential election. Predictive analytics indicated that Hillary Clinton would emerge victorious with a big margin. Nobody expected Donald Trump to win, but he pulled a surprise that shocked the entire world. Donald Trump received about 63 million votes in the 2016 U.S.A presidential election (McAdams, 2017). It was perplexing for a man described as carnival barker and narcissist to capture the most powerful political office in the world. His poor performance in the presidential debate made many people write him off. He defied expert opinion and shocked the entire world by winning the presidential election. The victory can be explained by drawing on the distinction between dominance and prestige as evolutionary strategies for attaining status in human groups. Trump’s appeal to millions of voters in America who voted for him in 2016 was primarily underappreciated. He can channel primal dominance like the alpha in the animal kingdom. He uses intimidation, bluster and threat to lead and inspire by establishing short-term, opportunistic relationships with other agents of high-status in the society (Cohen, 2016).  The paper analyses the role natural selection model in the evolutionary behavior of voting.

Research Findings

Several plausible explanations have been used in explaining the electoral earthquake. Procedural concerns like the vagaries of the Electoral College and the last minute resumption of FBI investigation as some of the reasons that have cited to have contributed to the unexpected turn of events (McAdams, 2017).Other reasons include Trump’s success in channelling the angst of white working-class voters; rejection of globalism; Trump’s pro-business agenda, and the promise of reducing government regulations. Trump’s pledge of appointing conservative judges and the widespread sexism in America made the election of the first female president in the history of America impossible (Chira, 2017).

It is puzzling to note that 53% of American women voted for Trump. A study conducted to explain why women would reject one of their own revealed several recognizable issues. Some section of women respondent voted for Trump due to his tough stance on immigration. Although Trump has been cited as a man who is widely sexist, his strict restriction on immigration may be useful in getting rid of sexist men in America. Some women voted for Trump since Clinton did not support women’s abortion rights, yet Trump considered criminalizing abortion (Chira, 2017).  These responses clearly show that people do not fully understand why they vote the way they do. Despite the belief that most voters carefully weigh the policy issues and relative merits of candidates, impulse, emotions, and instincts often override reasons, particularly when it comes to a political figure that is polarizing as Donald Trump. He prevailed in the 2016 election despite the personal shortcoming and insurmountable odds that would dim any other candidate (McAdams, 2017).

Analysis

The primal appeal that is generally ignored contributed mainly to the victory of Donald Trump in 2016. The appeal derives itself for the human evolutionary heritage, augmented by the recent rise in authoritarianism in Western democracies, and the emergence of a personality that is considered to be strange and deeply familiar. The three phases of natural selection that include variation, selection and retentions can explain why most American voters identified with the peculiar characters of Trump and considered him worthy of being a president. Change is brought about by the unique attributes that capture the emotions and impulse of voters that made them ignore the reasons as not to vote for Trump. The primal appeal and dominance make him an ideal figure who ideal are emulated by others thereby favoring selection and dominance in human evolution theory.

The value of prestige played a critical role in making Donald Trump the preferred candidate among millions of America. Trump’s early success in life made him attract considerable media attention due to his growing wealth and flamboyant lifestyle. He was a local celebrity in New York in the early 1980s. He has been a successful businessman. His life and principle of success that he followed are best described in the best-selling book The Art of the Deal (1987). The book described him as a man who attains prestige by a virtue of a specific skill or expertise. Trump seemed to have embraced a strategy for attaining status in human groups. The value of prestige is derived from the critical role that culture plays in human evolution. Individuals in the society seek to achieve knowledge of experts or emulate them by their exceptional skills. Natural selection favors an individual who are capable of figuring out the best experts and designing a way of obtaining the valuable knowledge possessed by experts.

Conclusion

In short, 63 million Americans voted for Donald Trump as the president of United States despite the disparaging remarks made by both Republicans and Democrats during the campaign period. He was described as a swindler, a serial liar, a bully, asexual predator and a bully. The concept of human evolution and social psychology can provide answers that have not received the needed attention they deserve. Trump’s victory can be attributed to the broad and primal appeal he holds on millions of Americans due to how effectively the psychology of dominance.

References

Chira, S. (2017). ‘You Focus on the Good’: Women Who Voted for Trump, in Their Own Words. The New York Times.

Cohen, R. (2016). Trump’s Il Duce Routine. New York Times, February, 29.

McAdams, D. P. (2017). The appeal of the primal leader: Human evolution and Donald J. Trump. Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture, 1(2), 1-13.

 
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