Forget petty bribes, state capture' is corruption so deep it is shaping the rules of democracy itself | Kenneth Mohammed

"A global youth revolt is shaking the foundations of political power. In just a few months, millions of young people have taken to the streets across continents from Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Kenya, Tanzania, Morocco, Madagascar, Peru and Paraguay to denounce corruption and collapsing public systems. The spark is familiar: governments accused of looting public wealth while ordinary citizens face unemployment, rising costs, poverty and failing services."

"These digitally connected protest movements leaderless, borderless and fast-moving have toppled governments in Nepal, Peru and Madagascar. The anger is not abstract. It is directed squarely at political and economic elites who have turned public office into private estates. What they are confronting, often without naming it, is state capture a form of corruption so deeply embedded that it shapes the rules of democracy itself."

"Most people think corruption is about a politician taking bribes, or a public official pocketing cash for a favour. That's the low-hanging fruit: petty or grand corruption, both corrosive but familiar. But there is a deeper, more dangerous form of rot state capture. Not simply corruption of the system. It is corruption as the system. Where ordinary corruption bends the rules, state capture rewrites them."

Millions of young people across continents have taken to the streets to denounce corruption and collapsing public systems, driven by unemployment, rising costs, poverty and failing services. Digitally connected, leaderless, borderless and fast-moving protest movements have toppled governments in Nepal, Peru and Madagascar. Anger targets political and economic elites who have turned public office into private estates. State capture is corruption so deeply embedded that it rewrites rules and shapes democracy, turning elections into hollow rituals and reforms into cosmetic gestures. State capture threatens democratic participation and can create generational crises, as seen in Tanzania.

Read at www.theguardian.com