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President Donald Trump is fond of blunt campaign slogans. In 2016, it was 鈥淢ake America Great Again,鈥� 鈥淏uild the Wall,鈥� 鈥淟ock her up!鈥�

In 2020, it鈥檚 鈥淟aw and Order.鈥�

With the presidential election barely two months away, President Trump appears to have settled on a defining theme for his campaign 鈥� one that has a deep and controversial history in American politics.

鈥淚 am your president of law and order,鈥� the president said in June, as law enforcement used chemical sprays and flash grenades to clear Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. 鈥淟AW AND ORDER!鈥� has been a staple all-caps tweet for Mr. Trump for months.

On its face the slogan is an appeal to voters unsettled by images of looting and arson in some cities rocked by protest-related violence. It鈥檚 hardly a new stance for the president, who has used law-and-order rhetoric since he was a young real estate developer in the crime-ridden New York of the 1970s.

But 2020 isn鈥檛 1972. An approach that has paid off for generations of primarily Republican politicians may resonate differently now. The protesters of today, so far, are viewed more favorably than the protesters of the 1960s and 鈥�70s were in their time. And the tactic is so well-worn that many voters may view it as explicitly divisive and inflammatory.

鈥淭hat it鈥檚 a pretty transparently racially-coded move, and a pretty obvious attempt to both heighten and tap into racial tensions, may make it less effective this time around,鈥� says Katherine Beckett, a professor in the departments of sociology and law, society, and justice at the University of Washington. 鈥淏ut time will tell.鈥�

An appeal to emotion

Throughout the Republican National Convention and in the days that followed, Mr. Trump and his campaign have talked a lot about how dangerous America would be under a President Joe Biden. They鈥檝e largely elided the fact that it is Mr. Trump who is the nation鈥檚 chief executive at a time when the United States is being roiled by protests against police brutality 鈥� and the violence that has followed these protests after dark in some cities.

The point is to present Mr. Trump as a strong leader who can stop the unrest. The president鈥檚 repetition of 鈥渓aw and order鈥� is meant to convey that, as is his insistence that Mr. Biden will 鈥渢otally destroy the beautiful suburbs.鈥�

All of this rhetoric about invasion, rioting, and crime is part of a broader appeal to fear, an emotion to which conservatives have historically responded, says Ted Johnson, a senior fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice.

鈥淭hat is a scare tactic used to incite people鈥檚 fears and anxieties against others,鈥� Dr. Johnson says.

In many ways, Mr. Trump employed a similar tactic in his 2016 campaign 鈥� it鈥檚 just that the 鈥渙thers鈥� have changed. Four years ago, his harshest rhetoric was aimed at immigrants, and the alleged crime and economic damage they would cause. He revived the approach in 2018 with dire warnings about a migrant caravan from Central America. This time, the attacks are aimed at 鈥榬adical socialists鈥� and Black Lives Matter protesters.聽

鈥淭he message has been consistent. It鈥檚 just the target of the messaging that is slightly different,鈥� says Dr. Johnson.

For weeks, Trump campaign officials have believed the images of police grappling with angry protesters in Portland, Oregon, and elsewhere would play to their advantage. Some Democrats have begun worrying about the same thing, and implored Mr. Biden to take a stronger stance against the looting and burning of stores and other businesses.

Mr. Trump鈥檚 poll numbers have indeed improved somewhat. Since August 17, the first day of the Democratic National Convention, Mr. Biden鈥檚 lead over Mr. Trump in a head-to-head match-up has fallen from 8.4 percentage points to 7, according to the FiveThirtyEight average of major surveys.

Support for Black Lives Matter appears to have fallen as well. Favorable views of BLM have dropped by 9 points since June 鈥� and by 13 points among Republicans, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.

But that POLITICO survey also showed voters preferred Mr. Biden over Mr. Trump to handle public safety by 47 to 39%. And a recent YouGov survey found that 56% of respondents felt violence at protests would get worse if Mr. Trump were reelected, while a plurality of 43% felt it would get better if Mr. Biden won.

Like motherhood and apple pie

Law and order as concepts are broadly popular, of course. They鈥檙e the opposite of anarchy. A government鈥檚 most basic role is to provide stability and safety for its citizens. Political appeals to 鈥渓aw and order鈥� are meant to tap into that atavistic need.

As a phrase, it鈥檚 been used for centuries around the world. The 17^th century political philosopher John Locke even spoke about it, says Malcolm Feeley, a professor of law emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley.

鈥溾�楲aw and Order鈥� is a phrase that鈥檚 a bit like motherhood and apple pie. It鈥檚 been around forever,鈥� he says.

In America, it鈥檚 been used by Southerners to oppose abolitionists prior to the Civil War, by the NAACP and its supporters to oppose racist violence in the early 20^th century, by supporters of Prohibition, and by a number of small 鈥淟aw and Order鈥� political parties over time.聽The phrase itself has spin-offs, says Dr. Feeley 鈥� like 鈥渢ough on crime.鈥� But 鈥渓aw and order鈥� has a certain connotation and flexibility that has made it durable.聽

In the U.S. in the 1960s, it found a resonance with conservatives that it has maintained ever since.聽The phrase is a political Rorschach test, appealing to whatever it is that voters are most anxious about at the time. It conjures up the kind of society most people would like to live in, one of stability, decency, and security.

It is also an implicit defense of the status quo against change 鈥� whether that change takes the form of hippies, feminists, racial equality, gay rights, or the general counterculture, says Michael Flamm, a professor of history at Ohio Wesleyan University and author of 鈥淟aw and Order: Street Crime, Civil Unrest, and the Crisis of Liberalism in the 1960s.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 very much an emotional appeal and a way of rallying supporters against an assortment of causes or concerns,鈥� says Dr. Flamm.

That was the case in Barry Goldwater鈥檚 1964 campaign for president, says Keith Gaddie, chair of the political science department at the University of Oklahoma. Senator Goldwater鈥檚 law and order rhetoric sounded familiar to Southerners used to repressive 鈥淏lack codes鈥� and Jim Crow laws.

鈥淎 lot of the rhetoric Goldwater would use wasn鈥檛 invested in racism, but it resonated with a conservative, Southern, white ear,鈥� says Dr. Gaddie. 鈥淲hen he would say 鈥榣aw and order,鈥� that was interpreted in some Southern precincts as meaning, 鈥業鈥檒l keep Black people in line.鈥欌��

Coded language聽

In 1968, George Wallace had a substantial impact on the presidential race running as a third-party candidate, winning several Southern states while using more overtly racist rhetoric.聽Richard Nixon, an adroit politician, had to balance between Mr. Wallace鈥檚 appeals and Democrat Hubert Humphrey鈥檚 more liberal language.

He won the peripheral Southern states and the overall election by targeting 鈥減olite racist鈥� voters 鈥� the sort of people who abhor lynching and overt prejudice but also don鈥檛 want changes to the status quo, says Angie Maxwell, the director of the Diane Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society at the University of Arkansas.聽In the post-Civil Rights era, openly racist appeals such as those used by Governor Wallace were no longer defensible, so coded language became the norm.

Mr. Trump鈥檚 approach has in some ways been less subtle than even that used by such hard-nosed GOP strategists as Lee Atwater. The president has drawn sharp criticism for saying there were 鈥渧ery fine people on both sides鈥� of the violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, where white supremacists had marched with flaming torches. He has defended Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager charged with intentional homicide for shooting three aggressive protesters, two fatally, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

It鈥檚 possible that the greater political polarization of 2020 America gives Mr. Trump more leeway to use blunter language, says Dr. Maxwell. In some ways the return of law-and-order politics is a reflection of where the Republican Party is, as much as the president.

Or it could simply be an instance of a party and a presidential candidate repeating strategies that have worked in the past.

鈥淚f Trump does this and he loses, it鈥檚 going to be a big 鈥榗ome to Jesus鈥� moment, with the Republicans wringing their hands and asking what happened,鈥� says Dr. Maxwell.