Capturing the Referees
The first step in authoritarian backsliding: seizing control of courts, prosecutors, and regulators before changing the rules. This ensures rule-enforcing institutions can't block future power grabs.
Capturing the referees is the strategic process by which an aspiring authoritarian government secures control over institutions that enforce rules—such as courts, prosecutors, and regulatory bodies—before altering the rules of the game. This concept, introduced by Levitsky and Ziblatt in their 2018 work, describes the initial phase of democratic backsliding where rule-enforcing bodies are neutralized to enable future authoritarian rule changes.
What this means in real life
Before a custody hearing, one parent befriends the court-appointed mediator through community events and casual conversations, hoping the mediator will unconsciously favor their position when the formal case begins.
What it isn’t
This is not bribery or explicit corruption—no money or illegal favors change hands. It's the softer, relationship-based influence that stops short of outright rule-breaking but still compromises the neutrality the decision-maker is supposed to maintain.
Commonly misused online
Social media often uses the phrase to mean any contact with authority figures, conflating innocent communication with strategic manipulation. People call it 'capturing the referees' when they simply mean 'talking to the judge,' missing the intentional bias-building element.