The 2016 US presidential election, which brought Donald J. Trump to power, raised concerns that his ascendency could undermine US democracy promotion and enable illiberal regimes to resist calls for reform. This article seeks to hold this argument up to empirical scrutiny via a framing analysis of coverage of the US election in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). To some extent, the analysis supports the claim: throughout the election, the KSA media offered several substantive criticisms of democracy. However, Trump’s campaign also served as a catalyst for a discussion about the merits of democracy, revealing some admiration for its key principles, and an acknowledgement of the challenges it faces in the 21st century.

中文翻译：

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对民主的看法和唐纳德特朗普的崛起：沙特阿拉伯媒体的框架分析

2016 年美国总统大选让唐纳德·J·特朗普上台，引发了人们的担忧，即他的上台可能会破坏美国的民主推广，并使不自由的政权能够抵制改革的呼声。本文试图通过对沙特阿拉伯王国 (KSA) 美国大选报道的框架分析，将这一论点置于实证检验之下。在某种程度上，分析支持这样的说法：在整个选举期间，KSA 媒体对民主提出了一些实质性的批评。然而，特朗普的竞选活动也成为讨论民主优点的催化剂，显示出对其关键原则的一些钦佩，并承认其在 21 世纪面临的挑战。