Read the full essay here.
Civil servants are a neglected source of democratic resilience. Their partial autonomy lets them resist abuses of state power. This resistance is possible because politicians cannot perfectly observe bureaucrats’ preferences or behavior. Artificial intelligence is closing this gap. States are collecting more data on their own officials, and AI tools can merge and analyze extensive records that once sat in separate systems. Illiberal leaders can now identify and punish bureaucrats they consider disloyal at scale. Drawing on cases from democracies and authoritarian regimes, this article argues that the legal architecture protecting bureaucratic autonomy must be updated for the data age.
Image Credit: Annette Riedl/picture alliance via Getty Images