Captured Hybrid State: Neopatrimonialism, Corruption and Hybrid Governance in Somalia

The “Failed State” and “Suspended State” paradigms severely obscure the reality of Somali governance. This article dismantles those frameworks. It advances the concept of the “Captured Hybrid State” to explain the country’s actual political order. In this ecosystem, structural corruption and legal pluralism are not symptoms of systemic collapse. They are the exact mechanisms securing a highly functional, exclusionary equilibrium for the political elite. The methodological design triangulates official documentation against 25 in-depth interviews. To capture the full spectrum of governance, the sample distinctly divides international aid workers from grassroots citizens. Subsequent ATLAS.ti analysis reveals a deep structural fracture. To the marginalized majority, the state is an unequivocal failure. Yet, the political class does not experience this collapse. Elites actively leverage these hollowed-out institutions to intercept foreign aid, guaranteeing a highly profitable status quo. Ultimately, this research proves that traditional state-building interventions do not fix Somalia. Through profound institutional blindness, they actively subsidize the Captured Hybrid State.