What is police state

Authoritarianism Police states tend to be very strict in authority, often dictatorships, though the South African apartheid system was also seen as a police state while being notionally democratic albeit with the majority of the population not participating in the democratic process. Nazi Germany , while a dictatorship, was at least initially brought into being by nominally democratic means.

Enlightened absolutism Under the political model of enlightened absolutism, the ruler is the "highest servant of the state" and exercises absolute power so as to provide for the general welfare of the population. This model proposes that all the power of the state must be directed toward this end, and does not accept any codified or statutory constraints upon the ruler's absolute power.

As the enlightened absolutist ruler is said to be charged with the public good, and implicitly infallable by right of appointment, even critical opposition to the ruling party is deemed to be an crime against the state. The concept of loyal opposition is incompatible within this political framework.

As public dissent is forbidden, it inevitably becomes secret, which is met in turn forms of political repression such as the use of secret police. Liberal democracy , with its emphasis on the rule of law, focuses on the fact that the police state is unrestrained by law.

Robert von Mohl, who first introduced the rule of law into German jurisprudence, for example, contrasted the Rechtsstaat "legal" or "constitutional" state with the aristocratic Polizeistaat "police state". This European term would coincidentally come into full force 80 years later in the same region. It is the purest example of left wing ideology where the people have absolutely no right to challenge the power of the government. The ruler, or dictator, is said to be charged with the public good, and is implicitly infallible by right of appointment.

The concept of loyal opposition is incompatible with these left wing politics. As public dissent is forbidden, it inevitably becomes secret, which, in turn, is countered with political repression via a secret police force. Secret police, like the Gestapo, are almost always prevalent in a police state. It is also interesting to note that in police states, individual gun ownership is always outlawed. History provides some crystal clear examples of police states.

The Soviet Union and its many satellite states, including North Korea and East Germany, were notorious for their extensive and repressive police and intelligence services. The same was, and probably still is, for Cuba, China, and almost every communist government that has ever existed. See more words from the same year. Accessed 12 Nov. More Definitions for police state.

See the full definition for police state in the English Language Learners Dictionary. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Log in Sign Up. Save Word. Definition of police state. Examples of police state in a Sentence Recent Examples on the Web The North Korean leader is considered by international monitors to be among the world's worst human rights abusers, running a deeply repressive police state that controls almost every aspect of public and private life.

First Known Use of police state , in the meaning defined above.