: Digital tracking of public funds and campaign donations.

Scholars often analyze this phenomenon through the lens of . In these scenarios, the boundary between the "legal" and "illegal" dissolves.

: When citizens realize the "game is rigged," civic engagement drops, and the social contract dissolves.

In this system, the "mafia" is not just a group of bandits in the hills; it is a sophisticated network of actors who use democratic processes to legitimize the extraction of public resources for private gain. 1. Defining the Mafia Democracy