In Pursuit of Development How public institutions become captured | Elizabeth Dávid-Barrett
Apr 29, 2026
Elizabeth Dávid-Barrett, professor of governance and integrity and director of the Centre for the Study of Corruption, studies state capture and accountability. She discusses how powerful actors reshape rules to serve narrow interests. Short takes cover differences between petty graft and systemic capture, how loyalty replaces merit, targets like courts and banks, and the role of divisive narratives and digital tools.
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State Capture Rewrites The Rules
- State capture rewrites rules rather than just exploiting them, shifting power from merit to proximity to power.
- It channels credit, contracts, and regulation to politically connected actors, hollowing out institutions over time.
Three Pillars Of Contemporary State Capture
- Modern state capture has three pillars: shaping policy, controlling implementation through patronage, and disabling accountability institutions.
- Political captors exploit appointment power to install loyalists across ministries, SOEs and regulators.
Politicians Use Division To Mask Capture
- Captors deploy strategically divisive narratives to polarise citizens and shift loyalty from democratic norms to party loyalty.
- They manufacture outsiders to blame (migrants, elites, international actors) to distract from corrupt practices.