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. 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. The Oprichnina established by Tsar Ivan IV within the Russian Tsardom in 1565 functioned as a predecessor to the modern police state, featuring persecutions and autocratic rule. Some have characterised the rule of King Henry VIII during the Tudor period as a police state. If one person committed any crime against the regime, all 10 households would be executed. 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. Residents were grouped into units of 10 households, with weapons were strictly prohibited, and only one kitchen knife was allowed for 10 households. 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. Subsequently, during the short-lived Qin Dynasty, the police state became far more wide-reaching than its predecessors. 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'. During the rule 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. Examples of states with related attributes Įarly forms of police states can be found in ancient China. Īn electronic police state is one in which the government aggressively uses electronic technologies to record, organize, search and distribute forensic evidence against its citizens. Along this spectrum, any law that has the effect of removing liberty is seen as moving towards a police state while any law that limits government oversight of the populace is seen as moving towards a free state. This concept can be viewed as a balance or scale. īecause 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. The German term Polizeistaat came into English usage in the 1930s with reference to totalitarian governments that had begun to emerge in Europe. 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. Robert von Mohl, who first introduced the rule of law to German jurisprudence, contrasted the Rechtsstaat ("legal" or "constitutional" state) with the anti- aristocratic Polizeistaat ("police state"). Political control may be exerted by means of a secret police force that operates outside the boundaries normally imposed by a constitutional state. The inhabitants of a police state may experience restrictions on their mobility, or on their freedom to express or communicate political or other views, which are subject to police monitoring or enforcement. Originally, a police state was a state regulated by a civil administration, but since the beginning of the 20th century it has "taken on an emotional and derogatory meaning" by describing an undesirable state of living characterized by the overbearing presence of civil authorities. Such governments are typically one-party states, but police-state-level control may emerge in multi-party systems as well. ![]() A police state is a characteristic of authoritarian, totalitarian or illiberal regimes (contrary to a liberal democratic regime). ![]() There is typically little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the executive, and the deployment of internal security and police forces play a heightened role in governance. For the 2017 film, see Police State (2017 film).Ī police state describes a state whose government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over civil society and liberties. For the 1989 film, see Police State (1989 film).
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