Ethical transgressions and moral courage in bureaucracies under pressure under Trump and Bolsonaro

Under the administrations of the U.S. President Donald J. Trump (2017–2021) and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (2019–2023), democratic backsliding intensified through institutional erosion, illiberal reforms, and growing political pressures on public administration. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 82 Brazilian and 79 U.S. civil servants, this study examines episodes of moral courage - defined as principled actions taken in the face of political pressure and personal risk. We identify the organizational and individual conditions that enable such acts. At the meso level, we find that supportive professional cultures and strong internal and external networks emerge as key facilitators. At the individual level, moral courage is associated with strong commitment to agency missions, a high sense of self-efficacy, long-term moral reflection, and civic engagement. Additionally, cross-national comparison reveals that Brazilian civil servants tended to mobilize through more collective and visible forms of acts of moral courage, whereas their U.S. counterparts often adopted more individualized and cautious strategies. Our findings contribute to public administration scholarship by offering a comparative perspective on bureaucratic resistance during democratic erosion. We also provide a conceptual framework to guide future empirical research and identify concrete enabling conditions and characteristics that support public servants in defending democratic norms under illiberal regimes.