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Over the past few weeks, we’ve been going through each of the 10 Steps to Autocracy and Authoritarianism in detail. The 10 Steps framework is a clear way to understand how all of the pieces in this authoritarian takeover fit together. If you haven’t gotten a chance to do so, check out our breakdown of Steps 1, 2, and 3.
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This week, we’re going over Step 4: Gutting the Civil Service.
Democracy depends on more than elections, courts, and legislatures. It depends on a professional, nonpartisan civil service: the people who keep the lights on, run our parks, protect public health, deliver the mail, and enforce the law, regardless of who’s in power. Step 4 in the autocrat’s playbook is to gut that civil service. By firing competent, independent workers and stripping their work of necessary funding, authoritarians break the will of the people to trust in government. Democracy works best when people believe it can deliver for them. But when that trust is severed, regaining it becomes nearly impossible.
This is not a new tactic. Autocrats across the globe have leaned on purges of bureaucrats, inspectors, and civil servants to eliminate resistance. Viktor Orbán’s Hungary saw waves of dismissals in oversight agencies. Rodrigo Duterte reveled in firing thousands of officials when he took power in the Philippines in 2016, a precursor to his reign of extrajudicial killings of Filipino citizens and censorship of independent media. Erdoğan’s Turkey purged tens of thousands of public employees after the 2016 coup attempt, replacing them with political loyalists. In Venezuela, Hugo Chávez turned government offices into partisan battlegrounds, ensuring that public workers’ careers depended on their allegiance to him. In each case, the outcome has been the same: the government stopped being a service to the people and became an extension of the ruler’s will.
We are watching this play out again as the White House signals plans to use the slashing of the federal workforce as leverage during their government shutdown. Thousands of workers — from food inspectors to park rangers to public health staff — are bracing for layoffs, simply because Republicans see them as disposable checkers in their power play. But as much as these public servants work for our well-being, they have lives and concerns of their own. We have seen this play out under Trump and the GOP before. They cut off funding for an operational America, and the furloughed civil servants pay the price. Families skip meals, forgo refilling prescriptions, and prepare for pink slips because their livelihoods are being used as bargaining chips by the President and his party.
Making a small “d” democratic government seem irrelevant is the point of Step 4. As I have pointed out before, democracy isn’t an abstract concept. It’s a pledge to the people that our pooled resources will be used for our collective benefit. We cast our votes believing our leaders serve the needs of the people — using the millions of good Americans willing to do their best. But when authoritarians slash services and bankrupt programs, people rightfully wonder, “what has democracy done for me lately?” If Trump and the Republicans have their way, the answer will be a resounding: “Not much.”
What began with DOGE is now accelerating through this shutdown and Russell Vought’s promise to indiscriminately fire thousands more. A professional civil service is designed to outlast presidents and protect the public interest. This authoritarian regime sees that independence as a threat. By gutting agencies, driving out career workers, and denying the resources necessary to do the job, they strip away the expertise that makes government resilient. And they create a vacuum to be filled by privatization, elimination of vital services and the permanent erosion of belief that democracy is worth it. The result is pure control. They are trying to build a government that carries out partisan orders without question and lulls the public into believing this is all there is.
Earlier this year on Assembly Required, we spoke with Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, to break down who’s being affected by the dismantling of our civil service, and the crippling effects this has for everyday Americans. You can listen to the full episode below:
Step 4 is so corrosive because the damage isn’t always obvious right away. Trash may still get collected, planes will still take off (after delays), agencies will still do a version of their jobs. But beneath the surface, as competence is erased, it becomes easier to argue that a democratic government just isn’t worth the hassle. Instead, the autocrat decides who really counts, and he and his cronies decide who receives service in exchange for obedience. Over time, the government stops working for the public and starts working only for the autocrat in power.
This is why civil service protections must be defended. Unions, watchdogs, and the courts must continue to challenge politically motivated purges. Legislators must resist attempts to politicize hiring and firing rules. And citizens must understand that attacks on our civil servants are really attacks on their own families — because those workers are teachers, scientists, healthcare professionals, and veterans who keep our country running. So in this moment, we can respond by reaching out to the federal workers who are living in limbo and offer a helping hand. Don’t assume that anyone is there to take care of them - these are the very people who’ve been taking care of us.
The 10 Steps to Autocracy and Authoritarianism teach us that while each step is independent, each one makes the next even easier to achieve. Gutting the civil service clears the path for unchecked executive power, captured institutions, and government by loyalty test. Step 4 reminds us: if we let them hollow out the ranks of those who serve the people, the only ones left will be those who serve the autocrat.
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