Is state capture coming to the United States? Americans can learn to recognise it from the experiences of other countries.
Zenobia Ismail, December 2024
Corruption involving the state, such as neopatrimonialism, clientelism and crony capitalism, are generally perceived to occur mainly in emerging democracies in the Global South or Eastern Europe. The so-called mature democracies tend to be seen as largely immune from extensive corruption. However, the unprecedented influence of business elites like Elon Musk in the recent US election campaign raises concerns about a form of elite corruption known as state capture. Americans can learn to detect state capture from the experiences of other countries which experienced this, in particular South Africa, which is coincidently the birthplace of Musk… Read More