Patrimonialism: When the State Becomes a Business
In his February 2025 Atlantic essay “One Word Describes Trump,” Jonathan Rauch describes a system that has come to define Donald Trump’s second term: patrimonialism.1 It’s a word unfamiliar to many Americans, but the concept is simple. A patrimonial leader treats the government like a family business. He hires friends, fires critics, funnels public resources into private hands, and bends institutions to serve personal interests. The rules become tools of loyalty. Loyalty becomes the measure of worth. And the law, instead of standing above the president, becomes his servant.
Unlike open dictatorships, patrimonial systems keep a democratic façade. There are still elections, press briefings, and even Congressional hearings. But behind the scenes, the civil service is being gutted, watchdogs are being dismissed, and federal agencies are being turned into echo chambers. Rauch warns that Trump’s presidency has shifted from conservative populism to full-fledged patrimonialism. And that shift puts the entire constitutional system at risk.
Why Patrimonialism Threatens Our Republic
The dangers are obvious. When the president runs the country like a CEO with no board of directors, the checks and balances built into our democracy break down. This isn’t just bad governance; it’s a form of corruption that extends beyond a few bad actors. It changes the culture of government itself. Max Weber, the renowned German sociologist, cautioned that patrimonial rule leads to “a household administration that rests on the purely personal authority of the ruler.”
In the Trump administration, loyalty often takes precedence over experience. Inspectors general are fired. Watchdogs lose funding. Cabinet officials are chosen for their fealty, not their fitness. Rauch points to a pattern that has only deepened in Trump’s second term. His economic strategy—nicknamed the “One Big Beautiful Bill”—cuts taxes, slashes regulations, and enacts tariffs that benefit favored businesses. These policies are promoted as populist, but they quietly steer contracts and cash to Trump allies.
An article in the Atlantic, What the Next Phase of Trump’s Presidency Will Look Like, on Trump’s economic agenda confirms this.2 Trade policy and government investment are being used not just to stimulate the economy, but to reward political loyalty. That isn’t just unethical. It creates a shadow economy where the well-connected profit while the public pays more. As inflation rises and benefits shrink, the cracks in the façade become more apparent.
Historical Lessons and Constitutional Grounding
Historically, patrimonial systems are unstable. From the tsars of Russia to Juan Perón’s Argentina, regimes built on personal loyalty and cronyism often end in collapse. The systems rot from within. Expertise drains away. Corruption grows too blatant to ignore. Eventually, citizens grow tired of the spectacle and demand competence. In Poland, the Law and Justice party lost its grip after years of using public office for private gain. The opposition focused its message on corruption, abuse of power, and attacks on the rule of law. That message broke through where policy debates could not. Corruption is easy to understand. It affects everyone. As Alexander Hamilton warned in Federalist No. 1, “Of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people, commencing as demagogues and ending as tyrants.”
The Constitution gives citizens the tools to fight back. It requires separation of powers, checks and balances, and the rule of law. James Madison, in Federalist No. 51, argued for a system “of opposite and rival interests” so that no branch could overpower the others. He knew that ambition must be made to counteract ambition. Jefferson warned that “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” These aren’t just quotes—they are instructions. When officials ignore those duties, it’s not just a political failure. It’s a constitutional crisis. Citizens can respond with oversight, lawsuits, public testimony, and, most of all, the vote. As Hamilton also wrote, “Real liberty is neither found in despotism nor in the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments.”
Resistance and the Power of Public Messaging
One answer is to meet patrimonialism where it’s vulnerable: visibility. Corruption only works when people stop paying attention. Trump’s style makes secrecy hard. He flaunts success. He rewards allies in public. His policies are designed to provoke. That makes it easier for citizens to push back. Protest movements have grown. Across the country, thousands have marched against ICE raids and abusive immigration policies. In Los Angeles, protestors have physically blocked ICE agents from detaining families. These actions matter. They make state overreach visible. When Trump responds by deploying the National Guard, he exposes his fear of public dissent.
Local resistance works too. In immigrant neighborhoods, communities have formed rapid-response teams. When an ICE raid begins, neighbors send alerts, show up, and bear witness. Legal teams get involved. Even if the raid proceeds, it will be conducted in public. That undermines the fear that sustains these tactics. And it highlights that the people still hold collective power to push back.
To be effective, messaging should use repetition, evoke emotion, and employ contrast. In Poland, the opposition built ads around the experiences of ordinary people with corruption. In the U.S., advocates should show how Trump’s policies hurt veterans, seniors, and working families. Contrasting those stories with reports of sweetheart deals and luxury spending by insiders makes the message stick. Every protest, every letter to the editor, every viral video can reinforce the idea that patrimonialism is not a strength; it is theft disguised as leadership.
A strategic response also requires storytelling. Opponents of patrimonialism must tell clear, consistent stories: that Trump uses public office for private gain, that corruption drives inflation and instability, and that loyalty-based governance is inherently incompetent. These stories must be rooted in real lives. Rising food prices. Delayed benefits. Broken public services. A government run by flattery instead of facts always falters.
A Call to Citizens
Grassroots organizing is crucial. Neighborhood watchdogs can track local government actions. Protesters can draw media attention to abuses. Activists can push state and local officials to investigate contracts, follow the money, and demand accountability. They can organize citizen oversight teams, attend city meetings, and support local journalism that sheds light on government behavior.
Digital tools can help. Public records requests, social media campaigns, and crowdsourced reporting can identify where power is being misused. Organizers can use these platforms to educate, mobilize, and rally others into action. These efforts may seem small, but they form a network of accountability that can resist even the most powerful centralized authority.
This isn’t easy work. But it’s been done before. From the Civil Rights movement to anti-Vietnam protests, Americans have repeatedly forced corrupt systems to change. The lesson is simple: corruption thrives in silence, but collapses under scrutiny.
In the end, patrimonialism is just a form of theft and political corruption. It takes power meant for the people and sells it to the highest bidder. It may wear a red tie and a smile, but it is no less dangerous for its familiarity. The good news is that it can be beaten. But it requires vigilance, courage, and the conviction that democracy isn’t a given. It’s a fight. And it’s one every citizen must be willing to engage in, day by day.
So speak out. Show up. Educate others. Demand accountability from those in power. Join your local watchdog group or start one. Volunteer for a candidate who values institutions. Share articles, show up at council meetings, and make your presence known. Democracy doesn’t run on autopilot. It runs on the efforts of all of us. The Constitution is still on our side. But only if we stand up for it.
Patrimonialism vs. Ordinary Corruption
| Feature | Ordinary Corruption | Patrimonialism |
| Scope | Individual wrongdoing | System-wide practice |
| Visibility | Often hidden | Often public or normalized |
| Motivation | Greed or self-interest | Loyalty and power consolidation |
| Enforcement | Can be prosecuted | Enforcement often hollowed out |
| Effect on democracy | Damages trust | Dismantles institutions from within |
| Example | Bribery for contracts | Loyalty appts, family enrichment |
Weber wrote that “The fate of our times is characterized by rationalization and intellectualization and, above all, by the disenchantment of the world.”3 Trump’s patrimonialism reverses that. It brings myth, personality, and spectacle back into politics. But in doing so, it strips away the professional, competent, rule-bound core of democratic government.
That’s the challenge. But also the opportunity. Americans have the tools to meet it. And the Constitution is still on our side.
The Atlantic, One Word Describes Trump, Jonathan Rauch, February 24, 2025, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/corruption-trump-administration/681794/ ↩
The Atlantic, What the Next Phase of Trump’s Presidency Will Look Like, Jonathan Lemire, Michael Scherer, and Ashley Parker, July 10, 2025 https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/07/trump-second-term-economic-strategy/683500/ ↩
Weber, Max. Science as a Vocation. 1917. In From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, translated and edited by H. H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills, New York: Oxford University Press, 1946, p. 155. ↩
