Civil society challenging state capture in Europe

26 March 2025 –

The concept of “state capture” has entered the headlines of mainstream media in Europe and the US recently. Whether in Hungary, the Western Balkans, or the US, journalists concerned with the state of our democracies are directing our attention to this form of systemic, high-level political corruption and asking the crucial question: Who exactly is running the government?

The 16th Regional Meeting for Europe was dedicated to reflecting on state capture, held in collaboration with the UNCAC Coalition Working Group on Grand Corruption and State Capture. Close to 30 participants gathered on March 4 to discuss the impact of this insidious type of corruption on society, based on the latest research and first-hand experiences of civil society organizations, approaches and lessons learned from their attempts to challenge it. 

What do we mean by state capture?

In a nutshell, state capture is the improper influence of narrow interest groups over laws and policies. When the concept was introduced in the late 1990s and early 2000s, researchers focused on how politically connected businesses and individuals dominated governments in Russia and other post-Soviet states during their transition to democracy and competitive markets. Since then, the notion of state capture has evolved to encompass not only business leaders but any actor, including high-ranking government officials, political leaders and parties, who overly influence policy and control institutions for their own gain and to the detriment of the public good.

While “state capture may well be as old as the state”, as  economist Daniel Kaufmann, one of the researchers who coined the concept, proclaims, it might arguably also be among the greatest threats to current democracies. It represents a form of (grand) corruption beyond traditional bribery and one-off exchanges, or what could be deemed legitimate lobbying activities.

For Prof. Elizabeth Dávid-Barrett, Director of the Centre for the Study of Corruption at the University of Sussex (UK) and renowned expert on the topic, state capture is a phenomenon of pervasive manipulation in which a powerful network captures policy-making and state resources to serve its own interests. She argued that state capture affects the way policy is formed, as well as how it is implemented, using three mechanisms: 

  1.  shaping the rules of the game through law and policy;
  2. controlling “implementers”, that is administrative decisions such as budget allocation, government appointments, public procurement contracts and regulatory decisions; and
  3. disabling checks on power by dismantling “the accountability ecosystem” composed by the judiciary, law enforcement and audit institutions and the media.

With examples from South Africa, Hungary, and Sri Lanka, Prof. Dávid-Barrett acknowledged that state capture is very difficult to reverse once it has permeated state institutions, and therefore identifying early warning signs that could lead to it and working on prevention become all the more important.

Unraveling state capture in Malta

Corinne Vella, Head of Media Relations of the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, brought the example of a small civil society organization that is exposing and confronting state capture in Malta.

Their first advocacy success was the set-up of a groundbreaking public inquiry on the assassination, in 2017, of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The quest for justice turned to a broader quest for accountability, as the public inquiry aimed at determining the responsibility of the State in facilitating or failing to prevent the assassination of the journalist and ended up showing Malta’s struggle with state capture. 

Concluded in July 2021, the Public Inquiry’s Report elaborated by a team of judges highlighted that the State created a “climate of impunity, generated from the highest levels at the core of the administration (…) and spreading its tentacles to other entities such as regulatory institutions and the Police which led to the collapse of the rule of law” and this “culture of impunity [was] supported also by a net of control which was created to concentrate power in the hands of a few people”. The Report recommended significant reforms to fix the broken system, most of which, as of today, the government has failed to implement. Yet, despite a reluctant government, Corinne Vella explained that the Foundation continues to work to build a “wall of facts” and push for public consultation on reforms, in addition to pursuing public interest litigation to achieve justice in other cases and support journalists in Malta and beyond. 

Media capture in Croatia

Free media being an essential pillar of democracy, it has been argued that media capture mirrors state capture. Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated because she had long investigated and uncovered the intricacies between big business and politics: When journalists perform their watchdog role and expose corrupt networks, controlling them becomes a priority for captor groups.

In Croatia, civil society organization GONG has researched political and business influence over the media and published reports encouraging citizens to defend the independence of journalists and media.

Oriana Ivković Novokmet, GONG’s Executive Director, detailed how state-owned companies and advertisers “bought” media independence in Croatia. GONG’s research found that state-owned companies, especially from the electricity sector, had spent tens of millions of euros on selected media outlets without public tenders, for instance through ads and sponsored events, and this was linked to favorable media coverage and a lack of critical questions. The research also revealed widespread censorship across the media landscape, with journalists facing pressure from editors and media owners to stay away from certain topics affecting big companies, advertisers, politicians and members of the government, given the risk of losing advertising revenue. Untransparent financing of the media opens the door to sponsored content being presented as news or the media being used for political promotion. 

Leveraging international support 

In the dynamic discussion that followed the presentations, participants emphasized the need for international support and explored opportunities to make a meaningful impact to counter state capture. First, support from other countries and key international actors, such as the European Union and the IMF, proves to be crucial. In North Macedonia, the European Union was instrumental in acknowledging state capture and making recommendations for reform. In Malta, U.S. travel bans on powerful individuals linked to the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia made a difference in addressing entrenched impunity. 

Secondly, efforts should be made to detect early signs of state capture, since stopping or even reversing it can be a very difficult and slow process. On this, whistleblowers and civil society building up the evidence-base and continuing to push back are key. Finally, international assessments such as UNCAC reviews, GRECO evaluations, and the European Union’s Rule of Law reports are valuable resources. Civil society organizations can leverage their conclusions and recommendations to spark discussions at country-level and advocate for accountability.

Resources on state capture:

If you are a civil society activist from Europe and would like to become involved, please contact our Regional Coordinator Ana Revuelta Alonso at ana.revuelta@uncaccoalition.org.