Authoritarian Drift, Variegated Paths: Mapping Administrative Transformation Strategies Under Illiberal Rule

Abstract

This article develops a typology of illiberal rule by identifying four distinct models of administrative transformation: neoauthoritarian, neopatrimonial, neoreactionary, and neoclientelist. Drawing on cases including Viktor Orbán, Donald Trump, Javier Milei, and Andrés Manuel López Obrador, it argues that illiberal leaders reshape bureaucracies through diverse strategies of control, each rooted in specific conceptions of the state and particular modes of bureaucratic design. In light of the varying illiberal trajectories, the article concludes by proposing differentiated reform strategies tailored to the specific threats posed by each variant of illiberal rule, aiming to bolster bureaucratic resilience accordingly. The analysis calls for a reorientation of public administration theory—from a focus on compliance to a normative conception of civil servants as stewards of democratic order.