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Winner, 2026 Best Book Award, Public and Nonprofit Section, Academy of Management
Shortlist, 2026 Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Book Award, Political Sociology Section, American Sociological Association
Donald J. Trump took office threatening to run roughshod over democratic institutions, railing against the federal bureaucracy, and calling for dismantling the administrative state. How do civil servants respond to a presidential turn toward authoritarianism? In what ways—if any—can they restrain or counter leaders who defy the norms of liberal democratic governance?
The Loyalty Trap explores how civil servants navigated competing pressures and duties amid the chaos of the Trump administration, drawing on in-depth interviews with senior officials in the most contested agencies over the course of a tumultuous term. Jaime Lee Kucinskas argues that the professional culture and ethical obligations of the civil service stabilize the state in normal times but insufficiently prepare bureaucrats to cope with a president like Trump. Instead, federal employees became ensnared in intractable ethical traps, caught between their commitment to nonpartisan public service and the expectation of compliance with political directives. Kucinskas shares their quandaries, recounting attempts to preserve the integrity of government agencies, covert resistance, and a few bold acts of moral courage in the face of organizational decline and politicized leadership. A nuanced sociological account of the lessons of the Trump administration for democratic governance, The Loyalty Trap offers a timely and bracing portrait of the fragility of the American state.
— James Perry, author of Managing Organizations to Sustain Passion for Public Service
Jaime Kucinskas offers profound insights into the tensions between bureaucracy and democracy, illuminating the precarious tightrope public servants walked navigating the unprecedented challenges of the Trump administration—balancing professional standards, personal ethics, competing loyalties, and workplace culture in an increasingly difficult political environment. This is essential reading to understand the complexities of governance in an era of profound political polarization.
— Rosemary O’Leary, author of The Ethics of Dissent: Managing Guerrilla Government
Kucinskas’s book offers a captivating insider account of civil servants’ challenges in staying morally and culturally committed to their positions as autocratic leadership put them in ethically and legally compromised situations. This study reveals the surprising fragility of our democratic institutions as seen through the eyes of government employees who are experiencing their deterioration in real time.
— Brayden King, coauthor of Protestors and Their Targets
Jaime Lee Kucinskas offers a compelling analysis of how bureaucratic loyalty can pave the way toward authoritarianism. Her study of bureaucratic resistance during the Trump administration revitalizes the conversation on ethics in public administration and provides strategies for safeguarding democracy. A must-read on organizational transformation.
— Michael W. Bauer, coeditor of International Bureaucracy: Challenges and Lessons for Public Administration
In The Loyalty Trap, Kucinskas provides a chilling account of how authoritarianism can be legitimized and spread in the modern moment that serves as a cautionary tale to us all.
— Dana R. Fisher, author of Saving Ourselves: From Climate Shocks to Climate Action
Recommended.
Offering an exceptionally timely and cogent analysis.
A substantial, timely, and indispensable contribution to our understanding of the intricate dynamics within civil services operating under mounting autocratic pressures.
[A] well researched and unique book.
Acknowledgments
Part I. An Introduction
1. Walking the Moral Tightrope
2. A Lurch Toward Autocracy
Part II. Keep Calm and Carry On: The Beginning of the Administration
3. The Spirit and Inherent Challenges of Public Administration
4. “Too Early to Tell”: Rationalizing Forbearance
5. Split Lives and External Engagement
Part III. Organizational Damage From Leadership Vacuums
6. Appointees’ Mistrust
7. Loyalty Traps
8. Signs of Organizational Decline
9. To Stay or Go?
Part IV. Civil Servant Resistance
10. Covert Resistance
11. Moral Courage
Part V. Conclusion
12. American Democracy at a Crossroads
Appendix A. Tables
Appendix B. Methodological Background Information
Notes
References
Index