Patrimonialism in the Trump and PiS Administrations

It’s no secret that President Donald Trump has profited from his time in office – up to $3.4 billion in profit, by some accounts. His financial entanglements, business ventures, and post-presidential commitments have blurred the lines between the public and private aspects of the Presidency. This, along with his history, public policy, and consolidation of power in the Capitol, cannot help but be compared to the former coalition leaders in Poland. Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS) has been led by Jarosław Kaczyński since 2003 and has been running the government for half of that time. Though the national contexts differ significantly, the structural patterns that emerge are strikingly similar. However one might refer to it, – neo-patrimonialism, cronyism, plain corruption – there seems to be a grave threat to our systems that we have held in such high esteem.

Jarosław Kaczyński in front of the PiS logo. Source: Gazeta Wyborcza

Jarosław Kaczyński’s Prawo i Sprawiedliwość Party

Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS) has been in power for 12 of the 24 years since its founding. Controlled by Jarosław Kaczyński, it is a populist party that is socially far-right and economically center-left. While its first term was mostly constrained by institutional checks, the second term faced no such constraints due to the politicization of specific parts of the state bureaucracy – effectively removing the barriers that restricted their previous attempts at power consolidation. The EU Courts later ruled that the PiS-led Minister of Justice was infringing on Poland’s judicial independence. According to Simon Watmough at the European Center for Populism Studies, a third term – which was stymied by a Koalicja Obywatelska (KO) victory in 2023 – would “almost certainly have seen Poland follow Hungary’s slide into outright ‘competitive authoritarianism’”. They came into power on an anti-abortion, anti-gay, and heavily church-based platform. Most notable is that they used gay people as a target for their populist and nationalist rhetoric, viewing them as a “deviation from the norm”. Similarly, one of their recurrent themes is that they are the ones to fight against the internal corruption that they help perpetuate.

The party’s affairs aren’t just limited to domestic matters. Their members of the European Parliament are instrumental in the European Conservatives and Reformists movement, which attempts to restructure the EU with an emphasis on national sovereignty. Such an ECR movement is seen by some as a “soft Euroscepticism” with a noticeable anti-federalist voice. Perhaps because of this, the number of Polish citizens with a positive view of the EU cratered after PiS came into power (from 61% in 2014 to 39% in 2016). Later, in 2025, it formed ties with the American right-leaning Conservative Political Action Committee, even organising co-streams of the event featuring Polish President Karol Nawrocki and US President Donald Trump.

Donald Trump’s Republican Party

Similarly, United States President Donald Trump rode the 2016 wave of populism all the way into the White House. Instead of using gay people as his targets (which, of course, he did to some degree), he notably made scapegoats out of Muslims and Mexicans, going so far as to categorise them as a “burden” on the US. He also made comments about the corruption that was said to be commonplace in the ‘establishment’ – that politicians are ‘owned’ by millionaires or special interest groups. He, as Michael Lind (as quoted in White) puts it, “exposed the gap between what orthodox conservative Republicans [as the ‘establishment’] offer and what today’s dominant Republican voters actually want”.

Donald Trump in his first term promoting Goya brand foods. Source: ABC News

In his second term, Donald Trump has rewired the inner workings of his Republican Party around him. His first term was chaotic and corrosive to America’s foundations, but his second is marred with repeated examples of profiteering at the public’s expense and consolidation of Republican political power. During and between his terms, he fundamentally altered the Republican National Committee to make it loyal to him. Ronna McDaniel, 65th chair of the RNC and niece of Mitt Romney, quickly fell in line and amplified false claims about the 2020 election and the January 6th Protest that followed. This didn’t last long, and she was asked to step down in 2024 to be replaced by North Carolinian Mark Whatley – a man supported and vetted by Trump. 

It is worth noting that not every person in the Republican Party has bent the knee. Thom Tillis, a Republican Senator from North Carolina, and Rand Paul, a Republican senator from Kentucky, along with Representatives Thomas Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Brian Fitzpatrick have all stood up to Trump’s agenda on at least one occasion. Senator Tillis has repeatedly criticised the administration and held up nominees that are in his committees. It is also worth mentioning that Rep. Massie will face a Trump-backed challenger in his primary, and that Senator Tillis and Rep. Greene have decided to resign. 

Democratic Corrosion’s future

Poland’s democratic institutions have been gradually eroded since 2015, the start of PiS’ second term in power. Before the most recent elections, Drinóczi and Bień-Kacała classified Poland’s new governmental system as illiberal constitutionalism, just like Hungary under Orban. They have highlighted that the reforms initiated by PiS have resulted in an “extremely undemocratic concentration of power has been established in Poland”. 

The Constitutional Tribunal of Poland that has been paralyzed by PiS. Source: The New York Times

There seems to be little that can stop this corrosion. The levers of the economy have been handed off to PiS’s friends, the constitutional court is effectively paralyzed, and unconstitutional actions have been legitimized in law. While this is still the case, the Koalicja Obywatelska’s victories in the recent elections have given the vast control that PiS used into the hands of the KO. It remains to be seen how they will use their time in power. Their strength is further limited by their status as a ‘coalition of coalitions’ – the three coalitions that make up the KO are themselves coalitions with competing interests, leading to further infighting. Given PiS’s 2025 victory of Karol Nawrocki in the Presidential election, the entrenchment they created may be insurmountable for only the KO’s control of the Prime Ministry and National Assembly.

In America, Donald Trump has been  using his position of power more explicitly for personal gain.  His use of certain presidential powers, along with his notoriety and popularity among his base, has set off alarms. He pardoned a cryptocurrency billionaire who had been convicted on money laundering charges, theorized to have been motivated by a $2 billion investment linked to Trump's sons. He has, most importantly, weakened the state bureaucracy – a key sign of patrimonialism – through funding cuts or direct cutting as was done with DOGE.

Changpeng Zhao, crypto billionaire, who has been pardoned by Trump. Source: Forbes

Contrasted with his disregard of the Constitution, such as ignoring birthright citizenship and detaining people in violation of the Fourth Amendment, the more straightforward rent-seeking and profiteering is easy to explain. According to NPR, sweeping attempts have been made to expand his presidential powers, erode the rule of law, curb freedom of speech, and tip the balance of checks and balances in his favor. 

Recently, however, there has been a sign that his power has limits. The Supreme Court’s ruling that the tariffs imposed by Trump are unconstitutional clearly delineates where his power ends. In effect, the Supreme Court has given the President wide control over the executive branch, but has been clear that his reach extends only within the executive branch. However, this has not applied to other cases in which he has restricted funds allocated by the legislative branch. Additionally, there has been little evidence of direct corruption in the strict sense or embezzlement by the administration. As David Kirkpatrick states in The New Yorker, 

“Trump’s critics often describe his Administration as an oligarchy or a kleptocracy, conjuring parallels with Vladimir Putin. Yet experts who track international corruption told me that this is going too far. Global titans of self-dealing … divert vast sums from national coffers directly into their bank accounts … Nobody has credibly accused Trump of simply embezzling payments to the I.R.S.”

It is worth noting that Kirkpatrick’s article was published before Donald Trump announced that the US government would fund his Board of Peace. Trump’s position as chairman of this Board is independent of his presidency and unrestricted by term limits.

Conclusion

Poland wrote its constitution in 1997; America wrote it in 1787. These two nations could not have been further apart thirty-five years ago. Despite this, Poland’s rapid growth and America’s gentle decline have led them to the same place: a right-wing party whose attempts to consolidate power for material gain have corroded the foundations of democracy set decades or centuries ago.

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