Firing civil servants and dismantling government departments is how aspiring strongmen consolidate personal power – lessons from around the globe

By 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
Joe Wright, Professor of Political Science, Penn State

Whether by shuffling agency personnel, creating new agencies, or limiting their capacity for oversight, a common tactic among power-hungry leaders is establishing control over the country’s bureaucracy.

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