A new study reveals that civil servants, like citizens, do not uniformly recognize and oppose political attacks on liberal democracy. How they view such attacks and respond depends heavily on their social and political affiliation. Civil servants who recognize politicians’ actions as undermining democratic norms are more likely to withdraw—by resigning or reducing engagement—while others, aligned with the governing politicians, may see no problem, stay, and willingly cooperate. As a result, over time—especially under prolonged political pressure—the civil service may become less politically diverse, not only due to top-down politicization, but through patterns of voluntary exit and disengagement. This increases the incentive of subsequent governments to replace career civil servants with political appointees.