If you mean in the United States, are ordinary citizens being punished or persecuted simply because they refuse to support a particular political party or political leader? — there are documented cases of political discrimination and retaliation, but I would be careful about saying that citizens generally are being persecuted for being nonpartisan.
There are several important developments right now:
- Political affiliation is legally protected in significant areas of government employment. Federal law prohibits discrimination against federal employees or applicants based on political affiliation.
- A federal judge just blocked the Trump administration’s “loyalty” question for federal job applicants, finding that the practice potentially violated civil-service and First Amendment protections and improperly injected political considerations into merit-based hiring.
- There is also a documented case in which FEMA employees skipped homes displaying Trump-supporting signs during disaster relief after Hurricane Milton. A DHS inspector general investigation found that the employees violated law and agency policy, and they were fired.
- At the same time, there are current allegations of politically motivated pressure against organizations and media outlets that criticize the administration. For example, ABC/Disney is alleging that FCC actions were retaliatory because of its political coverage; that remains a legal dispute rather than an established finding of wrongdoing.
The important distinction
There’s a big difference between:
“You disagree with me politically, so I’m going to punish you.”
→ potentially unlawful political retaliation/discrimination.
and
“You are required, as a government employee, to carry out lawful policies of the elected administration.”
→ generally a legitimate requirement of public service, even if you personally disagree with those policies.
And there’s another category that I think may be closer to what you’re asking about:
“I’m not a Democrat or Republican loyalist. I support the Constitution, the law, and the public—and I don’t want to pledge personal allegiance to a political leader.”
That position is not inherently disloyal or unlawful. In fact, the principle of a nonpartisan civil service exists precisely so government employees serve the public rather than a political party.
So if you’re asking because you’re seeing a trend where people are being pressured to demonstrate political loyalty rather than simply perform their civic or government duties, there is evidence of that concern right now—particularly in federal employment. The recent federal court decision concerning the loyalty question is especially significant.
If you tell me what situation or group of citizens you’re thinking about, I can look specifically at whether they’re actually being persecuted, politically discriminated against, or simply experiencing ordinary political disagreement.
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