Police state
A police state describes a
Originally, a police state was a state regulated by a
History of usage
The Oxford English Dictionary traces the phrase "police state" back to 1851, when it was used in reference to the use of a national police force to maintain order in the Austrian Empire.[4] The German term Polizeistaat came into English usage in the 1930s with reference to totalitarian governments that had begun to emerge in Europe.[5]
Because there are different political perspectives as to what an appropriate balance is between individual freedom and national security, there are no objective standards defining a police state.[
An
Early forms of police states can be found in ancient China. During the rule of King Li of Zhou in the 9th century BC, there was strict censorship, extensive state surveillance, and frequent executions of those who were perceived to be speaking against the regime. During this reign of terror, ordinary people did not dare to speak to each other on the street, and only made eye contacts with friends as a greeting, hence known as '道路以目'. Subsequently, during the short-lived Qin Dynasty, the police state became far more wide-reaching than its predecessors. In addition to strict censorship and the burning of all political and philosophical books, the state implemented strict control over its population by using collective executions and by disarming the population. Residents were grouped into units of 10 households, with weapons being strictly prohibited, and only one kitchen knife was allowed for 10 households. Spying and snitching was in common place, and failure to report any anti-regime activities was treated the same as if the person participated in it. If one person committed any crime against the regime, all 10 households would be executed.
Some have characterised the rule of
The USSR was described as the largest police state in history; modern-day Russia[13][14] and Belarus are often described as police states.[15][16]
Nazi Germany emerged from an originally democratic government, yet gradually exerted more and more repressive controls over its people in the lead-up to World War II. In addition to the SS and the Gestapo, the Nazi police state used the judiciary to assert control over the population from the 1930s until the end of the war in 1945.[17]
During the period of apartheid, South Africa maintained police-state attributes such as banning people and organizations, arresting political prisoners, maintaining segregated living communities and restricting movement and access.[18]
The
Following the failed
The region of modern-day
In response to government proposals to enact new security measures to curb protests, the
The dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos from the 1970s to early 1980s in the Philippines has many characteristics of a police state.[35][36]
Hong Kong is perceived to have implemented the tools of a police state after passing the
Fictional police states
This section needs expansion with: more examples. You can help by adding to it. (October 2023) |
Fictional police states have featured in media ranging from novels to films to video games.
See also
- Arbitrary arrest and detention
- Counterintelligence state
- Dictatorship
- État légal (French)
- Government
- Kangaroo court
- Legal abuse
- List of countries by incarceration rate
- Martial law, the suspension of normal civil law during periods of emergency
- Mass surveillance
- Military dictatorship
- Nanny state
- Rechtsstaat (German)
- Secret police
- State terrorism
- Surveillance state
References
- ISBN 9781780939742. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
- ^ A Dictionary of World History, Market House Books, Oxford University Press, 2000.
- ^ The Police State, Chapman, B., Government and Opposition, Vol.3:4, 428–440, (2007). Accessible online at [1], retrieved 15 August 2008.
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, Third edition, January 2009; online version November 2010. [2]; accessed 19 January 2011. [dead link]
- ISBN 978-0-8047-5392-0.
- ^ Police State (Key Concepts in Political Science), Brian Chapman, Macmillan, 1971.
- ISSN 1066-632X, "The so-called 'electronic frontier' is quickly turning into an electronic police state."
- ^ The Electronic Police State: 2008 National Rankings, by Jonathan Logan, Cryptohippie USA.
- ^ "Henry VIII: Henry the horrible". The Independent. 12 October 2003.
- ^ "Human truth in the Tudor police state". Financial Times. 28 September 2006.
- ISBN 9780887068331. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
Oprichnina was originally a band of faithful servants organized by Ivan IV into a police force; they were used by the tsar to crush not only all boyars (Russian nobility) under suspicion, but also the Russian princes [...]. Oprichnina enabled the tsars to build the first police state in modem history.
- ^ Wilson, Colin (1964). Rasputin and the Fall of the Romanovs. New York, Farrar, Straus. p. 60. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
[Ivan IV] established a political security force to run the Oprichina[sic], whose task was to spy on his enemies and destroy them; hence Ivan may be regarded as the inventor of the police state.
- ISBN 9781107054172.
- ^ "Russia's police state showed its real face in latest protest crackdown". New Eastern Europe - A bimonthly news magazine dedicated to Central and Eastern European affairs. 11 April 2021.
- ^ "Belarus: a police state in action". OSW Centre for Eastern Studies. 16 November 2020.
- ^ Higgins, Andrew; Santora, Marc (16 November 2021). "Cold and Marooned in a Police State as Desperation Takes Hold". The New York Times.
- ^ "SS Police State". U.S. Holocaust Museum. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
- ISBN 9780521776004. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
- ISBN 9781107026872. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
- ISBN 9789280808193. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
- ISBN 9780313332104. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
- ISBN 9780395133736. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
- ISBN 9781101213537. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
- ^ Paul H. Lewis. Authoritarian regimes in Latin America.
- ISBN 9781471129827.
- ^ "RSF". RSF: Reporters Without Borders. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
- ^ ISBN 9780198038108. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
- ISBN 9780300150131. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
- ^ "North Korea Rated World's Worst Violator of Press Freedom". U.S. Department of State. 25 October 2006. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
- ^ "North Korea still one of the world's most repressive media environments".
- ^ "Critics: Proposed Legislation Turns Turkey Into Police State". VOA. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
- ^ "Egypt: The politics of reforming al-Azhar".
- ^ Khorshid, Sara (16 November 2014). "Egypt's New Police State". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
- ^ "Egypt: The Revolutionary Police State". Politico. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
- ^ "Marcos Orders Crackdown On Critics of Martial Law - The Washington Post". The Washington Post.
- ^ Karnow, Stanley (19 March 1989). "REAGAN AND THE PHILIPPINES: Setting Marcos Adrift". The New York Times.
- ^ Vines, Stephen (3 July 2021). "What's wrong with Hong Kong becoming a police state?". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "Amnesty: Hong Kong on course to becoming 'police state' | DW | 30.06.2021". DW.COM. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ "Opinion: Make no mistake – this new security law turns Hong Kong into a Chinese police state". The Independent. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ "Hong Kong's New Police State". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ISBN 978-0-415-97000-6.
External links
- Amnesty International, 2005—annual report on human rights violations
- Council for Secular Humanism article describing attributes of police states
- David Mery (22 September 2005) "Suspicious behaviour on the tube". The Guardian—example of "police state" defined in a modern context
- Police State USA—a continuously updated multi-contributor site with news articles that document police brutality in the United States
- The Rutherford Institute "John W. Whitehead to Speak to Senior Statesmen of Virginia on the Emerging American Police State and What 2014 Holds in Store for Our Freedoms"
- Our Ever-Deadlier Police State. Chris Hedges on the police state in the United States.