Published In
The Conversation: Academic Rigor, Journalistic Flair
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-17-2017
Subjects
United States -- Politics and government, Political science -- American government, History -- Political ideologies
Abstract
What do Ron Paul, Nancy Pelosi and President Donald Trump have in common? They’ve all promised to “drain the swamp” of Washington politics.
These ambitious “hydraulic engineers” rely on a phrase that is deeply mired in our political discourse. The metaphor gets its clout from the notion that Washington was built in an actual physical swamp, whose foul landscape has somehow nourished rotten politics.
The assumption is just plain wrong: Washington was never a swamp, as I’ve discovered in exploring its first two centuries.
Rights
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/39708
Citation Details
Abbott, Carl, "Draining The Swamp: A Guide For Outsiders And Career Politicians" (2017). Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations. 355.
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/39708
Description
Republished at Newsweek.com: http://www.newsweek.com/draining-swamp-history-rejects-insult-capital-565447