Featured in The New York Times, Christian Gläßel and Adam Scharpf’s new book shows how career incentives and institutional structures – rather than ideology alone – can turn ordinary officials into instruments of repression.
Research by postdoctoral researcher Christian Gläßel (Hertie School’s Centre for International Security) and Adam Scharpf (University of Copenhagen) has been featured in a new piece by The New York Times writer Amanda Taub, examining how underperforming employees help “would-be authoritarians” maintain power.
The book: Making a Career in Dictatorship
The article, “Actually, Democracy Dies in H.R.”, highlights findings from Gläßel and Scharpf’s new book Making a Career in Dictatorship. Based on original archival research, historical personnel data, and a global analysis of authoritarian regimes since 1945, the book examines how career incentives can motivate ordinary officials to participate in repression and anti-democratic practices.
The feature introduces their research on Argentina’s military dictatorship alongside case studies from other authoritarian contexts, including Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and Jawara’s Gambia. Gläßel and Scharpf’s work challenges the assumption that authoritarian regimes rely primarily on ideological extremism or fear of persecution, instead showing how even modest career incentives – such as stalled advancement or minor promotions – can be enough to turn “ordinary men” into willing instruments of repression.
Contemporary democratic backsliding and the American case
The article situates the book’s main findings within broader contemporary cases of democratic backsliding, including Hungary under Viktor Orbán and Venezuela under Nicolás Maduro. Contemporary democratic backsliding often follows similar patterns, though typically through institutional mechanisms rather than mass violence. Political leaders accused of weakening democratic institutions may reward loyalty, elevate compliant officials, and create alternative pathways for career advancement within government systems.
Taub concludes by reflecting on the American case, where many experts warn that democratic erosion may be accelerating during President Trump’s second term. Gläßel and Scharpf caution that the planned expansion of ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) in particular, could create an ideal venue for “detouring” by ambitious underperformers who could be deployed for anti-democratic purposes.
The “second ladder” mechanism
According to Gläßel and Scharpf, the playbook for a leader seeking to create a loyal security service is to set up or repurpose an institution that can become a “second ladder” for career advancement: a well-resourced institutional pathway with low barriers to entry and reduced accountability, where impunity is signalled and officials are implicitly protected from consequences for misconduct. And the Trump administration appears to meet these conditions, even if Trump’s intentions remain unclear.
Gläßel and Scharpf’s book, Making a Career in Dictatorship: The Secret Logic Behind Repression and Coups (Oxford University Press, 2026), is available to order online.
Read the authors’ full feature in The New York Times here (paywall).
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More about our expert
- Christian Gläßel, Postdoctoral Researcher