STM Blog
Firing civil servants and dismantling government departments is how aspiring strongmen consolidate personal power – lessons from around the globe
The reshaping of government under Trump and Musk reflects a broader authoritarian trend, targeting bureaucracy to eliminate opposition and consolidate power, akin to tactics used by leaders like Erdoğan and Orban.
Erica Frantz, Michigan State University; Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Yale University, and Joe Wright, Penn State
With the recent confirmations of Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – two of the most controversial of President Donald Trump’s high-level administration nominees – the president’s attempt to remake government as a home for political loyalists continues.
Soon after coming to office for a second term, Trump aggressively sought to overhaul Washington and bring the federal government in line with his political agenda. He is spearheading an effort to purge the government’s ranks of people he perceived as his opponents and slash the size of long-standing bureaucratic agencies – in some instances dismantling them entirely.
At the helm of much of this is businessman Elon Musk, who is not only the world’s richest man but also the largest donor of the 2024 election and the owner of multiple businesses that benefit from lucrative government contracts.
Musk – and a small cohort of young engineers loyal to him but with little experience in government – descended on Washington, announced their control over multiple government agencies, fired career civil servants, and even strong-armed access to government payment systems at the Treasury Department, where the inspector general had just been sacked.
This unprecedented sequence of events in the U.S. has left many observers in a daze, struggling to make sense of the dramatic reshaping of the bureaucracy under way.
Yet, as researchers on authoritarian politics, we understand it is no surprise that a leader bent on expanding his own power, such as Trump, would see the bureaucracy as a key target. Here’s why.
Dismantle democracy from within
A well-functioning bureaucracy is an organization of highly qualified civil servants who follow established rules to prevent abuses of power. Bureaucracies, in this way, are an important part of democracy that constrain executive behavior.
For this reason, aspiring strongmen are especially likely to go after them. Whether by shuffling the personnel of agencies, creating new ones, or limiting their capacity for oversight, a common tactic among power-hungry leaders is establishing control over the government’s bureaucracy. Following a failed coup attempt in 2016, for example, Turkish President Reccep Tayyip Erdoğan fired or detained as many as 100,000 government workers.
In the short term, greater executive control over the bureaucracy gives these leaders a valuable tool for rewarding their elite supporters, especially as diminished government oversight increases opportunities for corruption and the dispersion of rewards to such insiders. Erdoğan, for example, by 2017 had worked to fill lower-level bureaucratic positions with loyalists of his party, the AKP, to ensure the party’s influence over corruption investigations.
In the long term, this hollowing out and reshaping of the bureaucracy is part of a broader plan in which aspiring autocrats usurp control over all institutions that can constrain them, such as the legislature and the courts. As we document in our book, “The Origins of Elected Strongmen,” attacks on the bureaucracy constitute a significant step in a larger process in which elected leaders dismantle democracy from within.
Take control of bureaucracy
The seemingly bizarre series of events that have transpired in Washington since Trump came to power are highly consistent with other countries where democracy has been dismantled.
Take Benin, for example. Its leader, Patrice Talon – one of the wealthiest people in Africa – came to power in democratic elections in 2016.
Soon after taking control, Talon created new agencies housed in the executive office and defunded existing ones, as a means of skirting bureaucratic constraints to his rule. The central affairs of the state were in the hands of an informal cabinet, initially led by Olivier Boko, a wealthy businessman considered to be Talon’s right-hand man despite not having any official position in government.
Talon and his inner circle used this control over the state to enrich themselves, turning the country into what one journalist referred to as “a company in the hands of Talon and his very close clique.”
Consolidating control over the bureaucracy was just one step in a larger process of turning Benin into an autocratic state. Talon eventually amassed greater power and influence over key state institutions, such as the judiciary, and intervened in the electoral process to ensure his continued rule. By 2021, Benin could no longer be considered a democracy.
Purge civil service
A similar dynamic occurred in Hungary. After governing relatively conventionally for one term, Prime Minister Viktor Orban was defeated in elections in 2002. He blamed that outcome on unfriendly media and never accepted the results as legitimate.
Orban returned to office in 2010, bent on retribution.
Orban ordered mass firings of civil servants and put allies of his party, Fidesz, in crucial roles. He also used the dismantling of bureaucratic constraints to pad the pockets of the elites whose support he needed to maintain power.
As a Hungarian former politician wrote in 2016, “While the mafia state derails the bureaucratic administration, it organizes, monopolizes the channels of corruption and keeps them in order.”
Likewise in Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez had his cronies draw up a blacklist of civil servants to be purged for signing a petition in support of a referendum to determine whether Chávez should be recalled from office in 2004; government employees who signed were subsequently fired from their jobs.
More than a decade later, Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s current leader, would conduct his own purge of civil servants after they signed a petition to hold another recall referendum. After multiple rounds of government and military purges, Maduro was able to overturn an election he lost and jail his opponents, knowing full well the judges and generals would follow his orders.
Foster culture of secrecy and suspicion
Orban and Chavez, like Talon, were democratically elected but went on to undermine democracy.
In environments where loyalty to the leader is prioritized over all else, and purges can happen at a moment’s notice, few people are willing to speak up about abuses of power or stand in the way of a power grab.
Fostering a culture of secrecy and mutual suspicion among government officials is intentional and serves the leader’s interests.
As a World Bank report highlighted in 1983, in President Mobutu Sese Seko’s Zaire, now Democratic Republic of Congo, the bureaucracy had been “privatized by the ruling clique,” creating a climate in which “fear and repression … prevented any serious threat from dissenting groups.”
When leaders gain full power over the bureaucracy, they use it to reward and punish ordinary citizens as well. This was a tried-and-true tactic under the PRI’s rule in Mexico for much of the 20th century, where citizens who supported the PRI were more likely to receive government benefits.
In short, when aspiring autocrats come to power, career bureaucrats are a common target, often replaced by unqualified loyalists who would never be hired for the position based on merit. Recent events in the U.S., as unprecedented as they may seem, are precisely what we would expect with the return of Trump, a would-be autocrat, to power.
Erica Frantz, Associate Professor of Political Science, Michigan State University; Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Distinguished Practitioner in Grand Strategy, Jackson School of Public Affairs, Yale University, and Joe Wright, Professor of Political Science, Penn State
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Urbanism
LA Metro’s D Line Extension Phase 1 Officially Opens, Bringing Subway Service to Mid-Wilshire and Beverly Hills
LA Metro’s D Line Extension: LA Metro officially opens Phase 1 of the D Line Subway Extension, connecting Downtown Los Angeles, Mid-Wilshire, and Beverly Hills with three new underground stations.
The future of transportation in Los Angeles has officially arrived.
LA Metro’s D Line Extension Phase 1 Officially Opens
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) officially opened Section 1 of the long-awaited D Line Subway Extension on May 8, 2026, expanding underground rail service westward through the historic Mid-Wilshire corridor and into Beverly Hills.
The 3.92-mile extension is one of Metro’s most ambitious transit infrastructure projects and marks a major milestone in Los Angeles public transportation. The new section extends subway service beyond the current Wilshire/Western station in Koreatown and introduces three new underground stations:
- Wilshire/La Brea
- Wilshire/Fairfax
- Wilshire/La Cienega
The expansion is part of Metro’s larger “Twenty-Eight by ’28” initiative designed to improve mobility across the region ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Downtown Los Angeles to Beverly Hills in About 20 Minutes
With the extension now open, riders can travel from Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles to Beverly Hills in approximately 20 minutes with no transfers required.
The D Line extension is expected to significantly improve travel along the heavily congested Wilshire Boulevard corridor, offering commuters, visitors and residents a faster and more reliable alternative to driving.
“Traveling through Mid-Wilshire to experience the culture, cuisine and commerce across diverse neighborhoods will be easier, faster and more accessible,” said Fernando Dutra, Metro Board Chair and City of Whittier Council Member.
Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins also highlighted the importance of the project in connecting Angelenos to some of the city’s most iconic destinations.
“Angelenos and visitors alike will love the extended service from Downtown Los Angeles to Beverly Hills, delivering greater access to the iconic and culturally diverse communities, institutions and destinations that define the deep history along Wilshire Boulevard,” Wiggins said.
New Stations Connect Riders to Cultural Landmarks
Wilshire/La Brea Station
Located near Hancock Park and the western edge of Koreatown, the station provides access to cultural and entertainment destinations including:
- Korean Cultural Center
- Marciano Art Foundation
- Ebell Theater
- Popular restaurants including Republique and Sycamore Kitchen
Wilshire/Fairfax Station
Known as the heart of Museum Row, this station serves some of Los Angeles’ most recognizable cultural institutions and attractions, including:
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
- Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
- Petersen Automotive Museum
- La Brea Tar Pits
- The Grove
- Original Farmers Market
The station also connects neighborhoods including Little Ethiopia, Park La Brea and the historic Fairfax District.
Wilshire/La Cienega Station
Serving as the eastern gateway to Beverly Hills, the station provides convenient access to Restaurant Row and destinations including the Beverly Center.
A Major Milestone for Los Angeles Transit
The D Line extension has been decades in the making and is widely considered one of the most important transit projects in Los Angeles history.
The project was funded primarily through Measure R, the voter-approved transportation sales tax passed in 2008, along with substantial federal funding support that included:
- $1.25 billion Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA)
- $66.4 million supplemental New Starts funding
- $749.3 million TIFIA loan
All three stations feature modern amenities including public artwork, enhanced lighting, cell phone service, bicycle hubs and improved pedestrian access.
Metro officials hope the extension will encourage more residents and visitors to use public transportation while helping reduce roadway congestion ahead of major international events scheduled for Los Angeles later this decade.
What’s Next for the D Line?
Construction is already underway on future phases of the D Line extension.
Phase 2 will continue west into Beverly Hills and Century City, while Phase 3 will eventually extend subway service to UCLA and the West Los Angeles VA campus.
Once completed, the D Line will provide a direct subway connection between Downtown Los Angeles and the Westside, dramatically reshaping mobility across one of Southern California’s busiest corridors.
Learn More
For official project details and station information, visit:
Metro D Line Opening Information
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Last Updated on May 4, 2026 by Daily News Staff
Cinco de Mayo is a holiday that commemorates the Mexican army’s victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. In the United States, the holiday has become a celebration of Mexican-American culture and heritage, often involving parades, parties, and traditional foods such as tacos and margaritas.
How will you celebrate Cinco de Mayo?
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The Substitute Teacher Who Wanted Blueprints of Our House
A fifth-grade assignment took a strange turn when a substitute teacher asked students to draw schematics of their homes. What followed — a wildly fictional floor plan and a priceless reaction from my mom — turned into one of my funniest childhood memories.
The Substitute Teacher Who Wanted Blueprints of Our House
Elementary school memories tend to blend together — cafeteria pizza, playground arguments, the eternal struggle of times tables — but every once in a while, something happens that sticks with you for life. For me, that moment came in the fifth grade during a week when our regular teacher was out, and we cycled through substitute teachers like we were testing models for durability.
By midweek, in walked a substitute with a mysterious, slightly intense energy — the kind of vibe that suggested he either meditated at dawn or worked a graveyard shift doing something he couldn’t talk about. We settled into our seats, expecting worksheets or quiet reading time.
But nope.
He had other plans.
“Today,” he announced, “we’re going to draw schematics of our houses.”
Schematics. Not drawings. Not little houses with smoke coming out of the chimney. Actual blueprint-style schematics. He wanted the layout of our bedrooms, our parents’ rooms, and where the pets slept. Every detail.
Now, to be fair, Highlights Magazine did have a feature that month teaching kids how to draw floor plans. So maybe he was just a bit overenthusiastic about cross-curricular learning. Or maybe — and this is my completely rhetorical adult theory — he worked the graveyard shift as a cat burglar gathering intel between heists. Just moonlighting between blueprints.
While the rest of the class tried their best to recreate their actual homes, my imagination sprinted in a totally different direction. The house I drew had:
- A massive master bedroom with an oversized bathroom for my parents
- Separate bedrooms for us kids on the opposite side of the house
- A kitchen placed right in the center like a command center
- And the dog — the true VIP — had a luxurious two-story doghouse
I had basically created a dream home designed by a 10-year-old watching too much Fantasy Homes by the Yard.
Later that day, my mom asked the usual question: “So, what did you guys do today?”
“We drew schematics of our house,” I said casually.
The look on her face was instant and intense. She wasn’t panicked, but there was definitely a “Why does a substitute teacher need to know the exact layout of my home?” expression happening. Parental instincts activated.
But then I showed her my diagram.
She stared at it. Blinked. Then sighed with massive relief.
“This isn’t our house,” she said.
“Nope! I made it up,” I replied proudly.
Her shoulders relaxed so much she probably lost five pounds of tension in one instant. If the substitute was secretly planning a heist, my masterpiece of misinformation would have sent him to the wrong house entirely.
Looking back, the whole moment feels like a sitcom setup — a mysterious substitute collecting “house schematics,” me creating a completely fictional piece of architecture, and my mom going on a full emotional journey in under 30 seconds.
Maybe he was just excited about the Highlights Magazine floor-plan activity. Or maybe — just maybe — he moonlighted in cat burglary. We’ll never know.
But if he was, I like to think I threw him completely off the scent.
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