In this episode, Lorenzo and I think out loud about the idea of institutional capture, how Western institutions have been overtaken by fashionable ideologies, and how this has led to the rise of unaccountable classes within bureaucracies. We discuss how these unaccountable elites influence policy and norms across both politics and private institutions, what Lorenzo means by the “feminisation of institutions,” and why governance and accountability have been so badly weakened. We also explore the role of dissent, why it is so often suppressed, and how this undermines the possibility of institutional reform. Lorenzo points to Australian political structures as examples of how accountability can be done better, and we reflect on what lessons they might hold for Western societies more broadly.
This is Lorenzo’s fourth appearance on the show, and as ever it’s a wide-ranging discussion full of diversions, references, and tangents that ultimately connect to a bigger picture of how we arrived at our current political and institutional malaise.
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