The Loyalty Trap: Conflicting Loyalties of Civil Servants Under Increasing Autocracy by Kucinskas, Jaime Lee
The Loyalty Trap: Conflicting Loyalties of Civil Servants Under Increasing Autocracy by Kucinskas, Jaime Lee

The Loyalty Trap: Conflicting Loyalties of Civil Servants Under Increasing Autocracy

Donald J. Trump took office threatening to run roughshod over democratic institutions, railing against the federal bureaucracy,...
$129.43 AUD
$129.43 AUD
SKU: 9780231208154
Product Type: Books
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Author: Jaime Lee Kucinskas
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Subtotal: $129.43
The Loyalty Trap: Conflicting Loyalties of Civil Servants Under Increasing Autocracy by Kucinskas, Jaime Lee

The Loyalty Trap: Conflicting Loyalties of Civil Servants Under Increasing Autocracy

$129.43
The Loyalty Trap: Conflicting Loyalties of Civil Servants Under Increasing Autocracy by Kucinskas, Jaime Lee

The Loyalty Trap: Conflicting Loyalties of Civil Servants Under Increasing Autocracy

$129.43
Author: Jaime Lee Kucinskas
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Description

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.

Author: Jaime Lee Kucinskas
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 05/06/2025
Pages: 440
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.11lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.98d
ISBN: 9780231208154

About the Author
Jaime Lee Kucinskas is associate professor of sociology at Hamilton College. She is the author of The Mindful Elite: Mobilizing from the Inside Out (2019) and a coeditor of Situating Spirituality: Context, Practice, and Power (2022).
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