Commentary: Right-wing populist regimes dig into all branches of power
A commentary in the Latvian magazine Ir looks at how the idea of "state capture" has developed and how right-wing populist regimes have spread in Europe and elsewhere. The piece is linked to Poland's right-wing populist president and his defenders.
The Latvian magazine Ir has published an opinion piece in its commentary section under the headline "PiS iekrampējies" (roughly, "PiS has clamped on"). Its subheading says Putin's "lapdog" is rushing to defend Poland's right-wing populist president. The available excerpt, however, mostly deals with broader background: how the understanding of abuse of state power has changed.
Where the term came from
Around the turn of the century, the World Bank, an international financial institution, introduced the term "state capture". In Latvia it was translated at the time in a more emotional way, as "state theft".
The World Bank used the term for corrupt schemes. Politicians in power can give such schemes a legal appearance by using their influence in the legislature, the executive and the courts.
What has changed since
The commentary's author says that since then, regimes professing right-wing populist ideology have multiplied in Europe and elsewhere. In his view, they use the levers of power not only to cover up specific corrupt deals. They also try to sink roots into all three branches of government so deeply that, as he puts it, a "powerful excavator" would be needed to dig them out.
This is the author's assessment, in the commentary genre, rather than a news account. The excerpt names no specific decisions by the Polish president and no individuals, so further context has to be sought in the full publication.
