Crony Rule of Law

The perversion of a legal system where the laws, regulations, and courts are systematically manipulated by and for a connected elite—political allies, corporate titans, and oligarchs—while being enforced with rigid, often cruel, literalness against the general populace. It’s rule by law, not of law. The rules exist not as a fair framework, but as a weapon the powerful can wield against rivals and a shield they can invoke for themselves. Justice becomes a transactional commodity, and legality is defined by who you know, not what you did.

Crony Rule of Law Example: A giant corporation negotiates a special tax loophole into law, then uses its team of lawyers to exploit it perfectly. Meanwhile, a small business owner is bankrupted by a Kafkaesque regulatory fine for a minor paperwork error. This is Crony Rule of Law: the same legal system is a playground for the connected and a minefield for the disconnected.

by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal February 4, 2026