Illiberal Transformation of Bureaucracy Under Right-Wing Populism

This article examines how distinct ideological strands of populism, left, centrist, and right-wing, affect state bureaucracy and bureaucratic expertise within a patronage-based administrative system. Drawing on longitudinal data from Slovak ministries between 2015 and 2025, it develops a comparative framework across three analytical lenses: the scope and duration of personnel turnover, variation across policy areas, and the treatment of institutionalized expertise. The findings show that while all populist governments engage in patronage-driven appointments, right-wing populists pursue a qualitatively different, illiberal strategy characterized by continuous purges, expansion of political positions, and ideologically selective targeting of ministries tied to national sovereignty, cultural identity, and moral order. Moreover, right-wing populists directly attack bureaucratic expertise by dismantling or subordinating institutionalized expertise that had previously ensured evidence-based policymaking. These patterns demonstrate how ideological orientation and political polarization shape the intensity and form of bureaucratic politicization, transforming personnel into a sustained instrument of illiberal governance.