Democratic institutions worldwide are being hollowed out from within by leaders elected through legitimate processes, according to a report by elmostlarador.cl.
This trend of institutional decay does not always require sudden coups or military takeovers. Instead, democratically elected leaders are increasingly using existing mechanisms to erode the very systems that brought them to power.
The report traces this phenomenon back to a 2011 debate in Shanghai between Francis Fukuyama and Zhang Weiwei. While Fukuyama argued that elections allow for the removal of incompetent leaders, Zhang contended that democracy is prone to capture by interest groups and populist figures.
The rise of the 'bad emperor'
Donald Trump serves as a primary example of this shift, embodying what Fukuyama termed "vetocracy" and "repatrimonialization." The outlet reports that the U.S. democratic system is being emptied from the inside through corporate financing and identity polarization.
This pattern extends beyond the United States. In Peru, Pedro Castillo's attempt at an autogolpe followed a period of channeling legitimate social exclusion. In Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu maintains political survival despite a crisis of internal legitimacy.
Other leaders follow a similar script. The report notes that Viktor Orbán in Hungary has used successive majorities to remodel the judiciary and control the media. In Argentina, Javier Milei is dismantling institutions without a coherent replacement project.
As elmostrador.cl states, "The 'bad emperor' did not assault power: he was elected."
This institutional instability is reshaping global geopolitics. The report highlights how U.S. foreign policy continuity now depends on the political party in power, affecting commitments in Ukraine and Gaza. In the Persian Gulf, the U.S. is losing influence as Iran consolidates control over critical energy arteries.
As Washington's influence wavers, China is constructing a new global security architecture. Beijing is building multilateral coalitions and negotiating pragmatic agreements in the Strait of Hormuz, following the long-term governance model proposed by Zhang Weiwei.
While Fukuyama warned that a system is only as good as its leader without checks and balances, the current era shows that democratic checks may fail when institutions are captured. The report concludes that the U.S. is not losing absolute power, but rather the ability to translate that power into real global influence.
