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A police state is a state in which the government exercises rigid and repressive controls over the social, economic, and political life of the population. A police state typically exhibits elements of totalitarianism and social control, and there is usually little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the executive.

The inhabitants of a police state experience restrictions on their mobility, and on their freedom to express or communicate political or other views, which are subject to police monitoring or enforcement. Political control may be exerted by means of a secret police force which operates outside the boundaries normally imposed by a constitutional state.^[1]

History of usage

The Oxford English Dictionary traces the phrase "police State" back to 1851. The German term Polizeistaat came into English usage in the 1930s with reference to totalitarian governments that had began to emerge in Europe.^[2]

Inner German border system in the early 1960s. Police states can be difficult to leave.

Third-generation inner German border system circa 1984.

Genuine police states are fundamentally authoritarian, and are often dictatorships. However the degree of government repression varies widely among societies. Most regimes fall into some middle ground between the extremes of civil libertarianism and totalitarianism.

In times of national emergency or war, the balance which may usually exist between freedom and national security often tips in favour of security. This shift may lead to allegations that the nation in question has become, or is becoming, a police state.

Because there are different political perspectives as to what an appropriate balance is between individual freedom and national security, there are no definitive objective standards to determine whether the term "police state" applies to a particular nation at any given point in time. Thus, it is difficult to evaluate objectively the truth of allegations that a nation is, or is not becoming, a police state. One way to view the concept of the police state and the free state is through the medium of a balance or scale, where any law focused on removing liberty is seen as moving towards a police state, and any law which limits government oversight is seen as moving towards a free state.^[4]

An electronic police state is one in which the government aggressively uses electronic technologies to record, organize, search, and distribute forensic evidence against its citizens.

Examples of states with police state-like attributes

File:Vilnius KGB Wiretap Room.jpg

KGB telephone tapping room in Vilnius KGB Museum, Lithuania

As previously discussed, it is impossible to objectively determine whether a nation has become or is becoming a police state. As a consequence, to draw up an exhaustive list of police states would be inherently flawed. However, there are a few highly debated examples which serve to illustrate partial characteristics of a police state's structure. These examples are listed below.

The South African apartheid system was generally considered to have been a police state despite having been nominally a democracy (albeit with the Black African majority population excluded from the democracy).

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 with, e.g. approximately 2.5% of the East German adult population serving (knowingly or unknowingly) as informants for the Stasi.

Nazi Germany, a dictatorship, was, at least initially, brought into being through a nominal democracy, yet exerted repressive controls over its people. Nazi Germany was indeed a police state; using the SS/SA to assert control over the population in the 1930s.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders ranked North Korea second last out of 168 countries in a test of press freedom.^[5] It has been reported that the only TV channel in North Korea predominately eulogises the country's past leaders Kim Jong Il and his father Kim Il Sung. As a result, some locals in Pyongyang have been quoted as stating that their leaders are gods.^[6]

George Churchill-Coleman, who headed Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist squad in the United Kingdom, stated he had a "horrible feeling" that Britain was moving in the direction of a police state.^[7] Claims of police state behaviour have been dismissed by the UK government.^[8]

Etymology

The term "police state" was first used in 1851, in reference to the use of a national police force to maintain order, in Austria.^[9]

Enlightened absolutism

Under the political model of enlightened absolutism, the ruler is the "highest servant of the state" and exercises absolute power to provide for the general welfare of the population. This model of government proposes that all the power of the state must be directed toward this end, and rejects codified, statutory constraints upon the ruler's absolute power. Thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes supported this type of absolutist government.^{[citation needed]}

As the enlightened, absolute ruler is said to be charged with the public good, and implicitly infallible by right of appointment, even critical, loyal opposition to the ruler's party is a crime against the state. The concept of loyal opposition is incompatible with these politics. As public dissent is forbidden, it inevitably becomes secret, which, in turn, is countered with political repression via a secret police.

Liberal democracy, which emphasizes the rule of law, focuses on the police state's not being subject to law. Robert von Mohl, who first introduced the rule of law to German jurisprudence, contrasted the Rechtsstaat ("legal" or "constitutional" state) with the aristocratic Polizeistaat ("police state").^[10]

Fictional police states

Fictional police states have been featured in a number of media ranging from novels to films to video games. George Orwell's 1984 has been described as "the definitive fictional treatment of a police state, which has also influenced contemporary usage of the term".^[11]

References

^ A Dictionary of World History, Market House Books, Oxford University Press, 2000.
^ The New Police Science: The Police Power in Domestic and International edited by Markus Dubber, Mariana Valverde
^ http://polisci.la.psu.edu/faculty/Casper/caspertufisPAweb.pdf
^ Police State (Key Concepts in Political Science), Brian Chapman, Macmillan, 1971.
^ "North Korea Rated World's Worst Violator of Press Freedom". America.gov. 2006-10-25. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
^ "Life in the secret state". BBC News. 2001-09-01. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
^ Travis, Alan (2005-01-28). "Britain 'sliding into police state'". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
^ "No 10 rejects police state claim". BBC News. 2007-02-08. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
^ Oxford English Dictionary, Third edition, January 2009; online version November 2010. <http://www.oed.com:80/Entry/146832>; accessed 19 January 2011.
^ The Police State, Chapman, B., Government and Opposition, Vol.3:4, 428–440, (2007). Accessible online at http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119912141/abstract, retrieved 15th August 2008.
^ [1]

External links

Amnesty international, 2005 — annual report on human rights violations.
Council for Secular Humanism article describing attributes of police states
David Mery, September 22, 2005; The Guardian — example of "police state" defined in a modern context.

[1] A Dictionary of World History, Market House Books, Oxford University Press, 2000.

[2] The New Police Science: The Police Power in Domestic and International edited by Markus Dubber, Mariana Valverde

[Casper-3] ttp://polisci.la.psu.edu/faculty/Casper/caspertufisPAweb.pdf

[4] Police State (Key Concepts in Political Science), Brian Chapman, Macmillan, 1971.

[5] "North Korea Rated World's Worst Violator of Press Freedom". America.gov. 2006-10-25. Retrieved 2008-07-23.

[6] "Life in the secret state". BBC News. 2001-09-01. Retrieved 2008-07-23.

[7] Travis, Alan (2005-01-28). "Britain 'sliding into police state'". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-05-12.

[8] "No 10 rejects police state claim". BBC News. 2007-02-08. Retrieved 2008-05-12.

[9] Oxford English Dictionary, Third edition, January 2009; online version November 2010. <http://www.oed.com:80/Entry/146832>; accessed 19 January 2011.

[10] The Police State, Chapman, B., Government and Opposition, Vol.3:4, 428–440, (2007). Accessible online at http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119912141/abstract, retrieved 15th August 2008.

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@@ Line 34: / Line 34: @@
 An ''[[electronic police state]]'' is one in which the government aggressively uses electronic technologies to record, organize, search, and distribute forensic evidence against its citizens.
-==Features of police states==
-Features of a police state include:
-*arrest or punishment of citizens for expressing their beliefs or opinions, especially for criticism of the regime or its leaders (criminalization of dissent)<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment| author=Naomi Wolf| title=Fascist America, in 10 easy steps| publisher=The Guardian| date=April 24, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007675| title=SS Police State| publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-police-state.htm| author=J.E. Holloway| title= What Is a Police State?| publisher=wiseGEEK| date=October 12, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://news.discovery.com/human/10-signs-you-live-in-a-police-state-130612.htm| author=Glenn McDonald| title=10 Signs You're Living in a Police State| publisher=Discovery News| date=June 12, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/police-state/6401/| author=Will Potter| title=7 Examples of a “Police State,” and How They Are Appearing in the U.S.| publisher=Green is the New Red| date=September 26, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/galip-dalay/egypt-police-state_b_3829334.html| author=Galip Dalay| title=EU Must React Stronger As Egypt Becomes a Police State| publisher=Huffington Post| date=August 28, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/controlstructurerev_print.shtml| title=The structures of control in the Nazi state| publisher=BBC| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://cdaworldhistory.wikidot.com/totalitarianism:case-study-stalinist-russia| author=Priscilla Franjul| title=Totalitarianism: Case Study–Stalinist Russia| publisher=CDA World History Wiki| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref>
-*[[blacklisting]] of [[Dissident|dissidents]]<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/controlstructurerev_print.shtml| title=The structures of control in the Nazi state| publisher=BBC| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://cdaworldhistory.wikidot.com/totalitarianism:case-study-stalinist-russia| author=Priscilla Franjul| title=Totalitarianism: Case Study–Stalinist Russia| publisher=CDA World History Wiki| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rutherford.org/files_images/general/Rise-of-the-American-Police-State-2010.pdf| author=Katherine Coleman, James Parker Gochenour, Kathryn Lawryszek, Nina Chandnani| title=The Rise of the American Police State| publisher=Rutherford Institute| date=May 2010}}</ref>
-*arrest or punishment of citizens for organizing political or civic groups<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment| author=Naomi Wolf| title=Fascist America, in 10 easy steps| publisher=The Guardian| date=April 24, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007675| title=SS Police State| publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/police-state/6401/| author=Will Potter| title=7 Examples of a “Police State,” and How They Are Appearing in the U.S.| publisher=Green is the New Red| date=September 26, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/galip-dalay/egypt-police-state_b_3829334.html| author=Galip Dalay| title=EU Must React Stronger As Egypt Becomes a Police State| publisher=Huffington Post| date=August 28, 2013}}</ref>
-*disruption or intimidation of opposition groups<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.thezimbabwean.co/news/6520/chinamasa-tells-un-to-ban-ngo-funding.html| title=Chinamasa tells UN to ban NGO funding| publisher=The Zimbabwean| date=July 6, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://zambiadailynation.com/2013/08/25/pf-creating-police-state-says-muhabi/| title=PF creating police state, says Muhabi| publisher=Daily Nation| date=August 25, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.globalresearch.ca/occupy-infiltration-of-political-movements-is-the-norm-not-the-exception-in-the-united-states/29750| author=Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers| title=OCCUPY: Infiltration of Political Movements is the Norm, Not the Exception in the United States| publisher=Global Research| date=March 13, 2012}}</ref>
-*[[assassination|assassinations]] of political opponents<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007675| title=SS Police State| publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://cdaworldhistory.wikidot.com/totalitarianism:case-study-stalinist-russia| author=Priscilla Franjul| title=Totalitarianism: Case Study–Stalinist Russia| publisher=CDA World History Wiki| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref>
-*[[smear campaign|smear campaigns]] or [[blackmail]] of political opponents<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment| author=Naomi Wolf| title=Fascist America, in 10 easy steps| publisher=The Guardian| date=April 24, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/police-state/6401/| author=Will Potter| title=7 Examples of a “Police State,” and How They Are Appearing in the U.S.| publisher=Green is the New Red| date=September 26, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://cdaworldhistory.wikidot.com/totalitarianism:case-study-stalinist-russia| author=Priscilla Franjul| title=Totalitarianism: Case Study–Stalinist Russia| publisher=CDA World History Wiki| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rutherford.org/files_images/general/Rise-of-the-American-Police-State-2010.pdf| author=Katherine Coleman, James Parker Gochenour, Kathryn Lawryszek, Nina Chandnani| title=The Rise of the American Police State| publisher=Rutherford Institute| date=May 2010}}</ref>
-*police brutality or toleration of police brutality<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment| author=Naomi Wolf| title=Fascist America, in 10 easy steps| publisher=The Guardian| date=April 24, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/galip-dalay/egypt-police-state_b_3829334.html| author=Galip Dalay| title=EU Must React Stronger As Egypt Becomes a Police State| publisher=Huffington Post| date=August 28, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007675| title=SS Police State| publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://cdaworldhistory.wikidot.com/totalitarianism:case-study-stalinist-russia| author=Priscilla Franjul| title=Totalitarianism: Case Study–Stalinist Russia| publisher=CDA World History Wiki| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rutherford.org/files_images/general/Rise-of-the-American-Police-State-2010.pdf| author=Katherine Coleman, James Parker Gochenour, Kathryn Lawryszek, Nina Chandnani| title=The Rise of the American Police State| publisher=Rutherford Institute| date=May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-police-state.htm| author=J.E. Holloway| title= What Is a Police State?| publisher=wiseGEEK| date=October 12, 2013}}</ref>
-*extrajudicial punishments (punishments not imposed by a court of law)<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rutherford.org/files_images/general/Rise-of-the-American-Police-State-2010.pdf| author=Katherine Coleman, James Parker Gochenour, Kathryn Lawryszek, Nina Chandnani| title=The Rise of the American Police State| publisher=Rutherford Institute| date=May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-police-state.htm| author=J.E. Holloway| title= What Is a Police State?| publisher=wiseGEEK| date=October 12, 2013}}</ref>
-*[[Kangaroo court|"kangaroo” courts]] which do not observe legal norms<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007675| title=SS Police State| publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/controlstructurerev_print.shtml| title=The structures of control in the Nazi state| publisher=BBC| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref>
-*fabricating evidence against targeted individuals and charging them with crimes they did not commit<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/galip-dalay/egypt-police-state_b_3829334.html| author=Galip Dalay| title=EU Must React Stronger As Egypt Becomes a Police State| publisher=Huffington Post| date=August 28, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rutherford.org/files_images/general/Rise-of-the-American-Police-State-2010.pdf| author=Katherine Coleman, James Parker Gochenour, Kathryn Lawryszek, Nina Chandnani| title=The Rise of the American Police State| publisher=Rutherford Institute| date=May 2010}}</ref>
-*militarization of the police or martial law<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.privacysos.org/police_state| title=What is a "police state"? Do we live in one?| publisher=ACLU of Massachusetts| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007675| title=SS Police State| publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/police-state/6401/| author=Will Potter| title=7 Examples of a “Police State,” and How They Are Appearing in the U.S.| publisher=Green is the New Red| date=September 26, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/galip-dalay/egypt-police-state_b_3829334.html| author=Galip Dalay| title=EU Must React Stronger As Egypt Becomes a Police State| publisher=Huffington Post| date=August 28, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rutherford.org/files_images/general/Rise-of-the-American-Police-State-2010.pdf| author=Katherine Coleman, James Parker Gochenour, Kathryn Lawryszek, Nina Chandnani| title=The Rise of the American Police State| publisher=Rutherford Institute| date=May 2010}}</ref>
-*harsh punishment (executions, torture, long prison terms, huge fines, solitary confinement, or other mistreatment of prisoners)<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment| author=Naomi Wolf| title=Fascist America, in 10 easy steps| publisher=The Guardian| date=April 24, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007675| title=SS Police State| publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/police-state/6401/| author=Will Potter| title=7 Examples of a “Police State,” and How They Are Appearing in the U.S.| publisher=Green is the New Red| date=September 26, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/controlstructurerev_print.shtml| title=The structures of control in the Nazi state| publisher=BBC| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref>
-*harsh interrogations (beatings, torture, injury, threats against family members, etc.)<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment| author=Naomi Wolf| title=Fascist America, in 10 easy steps| publisher=The Guardian| date=April 24, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://news.discovery.com/human/10-signs-you-live-in-a-police-state-130612.htm| author=Glenn McDonald| title=10 Signs You're Living in a Police State| publisher=Discovery News| date=June 12, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/4643415/Spy-chief-We-risk-a-police-state.html| author=Tom Whitehead| title=Spy chief: We risk a police state| publisher=The Telegraph| date=February 16, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/galip-dalay/egypt-police-state_b_3829334.html| author=Galip Dalay| title=EU Must React Stronger As Egypt Becomes a Police State| publisher=Huffington Post| date=August 28, 2013}}</ref>
-*secret detentions (disappearances) or detention of prisoners at secret locations<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment| author=Naomi Wolf| title=Fascist America, in 10 easy steps| publisher=The Guardian| date=April 24, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007675| title=SS Police State| publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://news.discovery.com/human/10-signs-you-live-in-a-police-state-130612.htm| author=Glenn McDonald| title=10 Signs You're Living in a Police State| publisher=Discovery News| date=June 12, 2013}}</ref>
-*lack of accountability for violations of the laws or constitution by government employees<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment| author=Naomi Wolf| title=Fascist America, in 10 easy steps| publisher=The Guardian| date=April 24, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/4643415/Spy-chief-We-risk-a-police-state.html| author=Tom Whitehead| title=Spy chief: We risk a police state| publisher=The Telegraph| date=February 16, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rutherford.org/files_images/general/Rise-of-the-American-Police-State-2010.pdf| author=Katherine Coleman, James Parker Gochenour, Kathryn Lawryszek, Nina Chandnani| title=The Rise of the American Police State| publisher=Rutherford Institute| date=May 2010}}</ref>
-*creating or exaggerating a state of crisis to justify restrictions on citizens<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment| author=Naomi Wolf| title=Fascist America, in 10 easy steps| publisher=The Guardian| date=April 24, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rutherford.org/files_images/general/Rise-of-the-American-Police-State-2010.pdf| author=Katherine Coleman, James Parker Gochenour, Kathryn Lawryszek, Nina Chandnani| title=The Rise of the American Police State| publisher=Rutherford Institute| date=May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007675| title=SS Police State| publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref>
-*secretly monitoring the activities or communications of citizens or groups who are not engaged in criminal activity<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment| author=Naomi Wolf| title=Fascist America, in 10 easy steps| publisher=The Guardian| date=April 24, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.newsmax.com/US/government-surveillance-police-state/2013/07/23/id/516551| author=Bill Hoffmann and John Bachman| title=Attorney Whitehead: 'We Live in a Police State'| publisher=Newsmax| date=July 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://news.discovery.com/human/10-signs-you-live-in-a-police-state-130612.htm| author=Glenn McDonald| title=10 Signs You're Living in a Police State| publisher=Discovery News| date=June 12, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/4643415/Spy-chief-We-risk-a-police-state.html| author=Tom Whitehead| title=Spy chief: We risk a police state| publisher=The Telegraph| date=February 16, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/police-state/6401/| author=Will Potter| title=7 Examples of a “Police State,” and How They Are Appearing in the U.S.| publisher=Green is the New Red| date=September 26, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/controlstructurerev_print.shtml| title=The structures of control in the Nazi state| publisher=BBC| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://cdaworldhistory.wikidot.com/totalitarianism:case-study-stalinist-russia| author=Priscilla Franjul| title=Totalitarianism: Case Study–Stalinist Russia| publisher=CDA World History Wiki| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rutherford.org/files_images/general/Rise-of-the-American-Police-State-2010.pdf| author=Katherine Coleman, James Parker Gochenour, Kathryn Lawryszek, Nina Chandnani| title=The Rise of the American Police State| publisher=Rutherford Institute| date=May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-police-state.htm| author=J.E. Holloway| title= What Is a Police State?| publisher=wiseGEEK| date=October 12, 2013}}</ref>
-*repression against political parties, civic groups or classes of targeted people<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment| author=Naomi Wolf| title=Fascist America, in 10 easy steps| publisher=The Guardian| date=April 24, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007675| title=SS Police State| publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/controlstructurerev_print.shtml| title=The structures of control in the Nazi state| publisher=BBC| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://cdaworldhistory.wikidot.com/totalitarianism:case-study-stalinist-russia| author=Priscilla Franjul| title=Totalitarianism: Case Study–Stalinist Russia| publisher=CDA World History Wiki| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rutherford.org/files_images/general/Rise-of-the-American-Police-State-2010.pdf| author=Katherine Coleman, James Parker Gochenour, Kathryn Lawryszek, Nina Chandnani| title=The Rise of the American Police State| publisher=Rutherford Institute| date=May 2010}}</ref>
-*random or mass searches, seizures, roadblocks or questioning<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/police-state/6401/| author=Will Potter| title=7 Examples of a “Police State,” and How They Are Appearing in the U.S.| publisher=Green is the New Red| date=September 26, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/controlstructurerev_print.shtml| title=The structures of control in the Nazi state| publisher=BBC| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rutherford.org/files_images/general/Rise-of-the-American-Police-State-2010.pdf| author=Katherine Coleman, James Parker Gochenour, Kathryn Lawryszek, Nina Chandnani| title=The Rise of the American Police State| publisher=Rutherford Institute| date=May 2010}}</ref>
-*requiring citizens to carry internal passports or national identification cards<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/4643415/Spy-chief-We-risk-a-police-state.html| author=Tom Whitehead| title=Spy chief: We risk a police state| publisher=The Telegraph| date=February 16, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rutherford.org/files_images/general/Rise-of-the-American-Police-State-2010.pdf| author=Katherine Coleman, James Parker Gochenour, Kathryn Lawryszek, Nina Chandnani| title=The Rise of the American Police State| publisher=Rutherford Institute| date=May 2010}}</ref>
-*censorship of the mass media and use of the media for government propaganda<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment| author=Naomi Wolf| title=Fascist America, in 10 easy steps| publisher=The Guardian| date=April 24, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://news.discovery.com/human/10-signs-you-live-in-a-police-state-130612.htm| author=Glenn McDonald| title=10 Signs You're Living in a Police State| publisher=Discovery News| date=June 12, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/galip-dalay/egypt-police-state_b_3829334.html| author=Galip Dalay| title=EU Must React Stronger As Egypt Becomes a Police State| publisher=Huffington Post| date=August 28, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/controlstructurerev_print.shtml| title=The structures of control in the Nazi state| publisher=BBC| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://cdaworldhistory.wikidot.com/totalitarianism:case-study-stalinist-russia| author=Priscilla Franjul| title=Totalitarianism: Case Study–Stalinist Russia| publisher=CDA World History Wiki| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rutherford.org/files_images/general/Rise-of-the-American-Police-State-2010.pdf| author=Katherine Coleman, James Parker Gochenour, Kathryn Lawryszek, Nina Chandnani| title=The Rise of the American Police State| publisher=Rutherford Institute| date=May 2010}}</ref>
-*breaking up non-violent public demonstrations or arresting the participants<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rutherford.org/files_images/general/Rise-of-the-American-Police-State-2010.pdf| author=Katherine Coleman, James Parker Gochenour, Kathryn Lawryszek, Nina Chandnani| title=The Rise of the American Police State| publisher=Rutherford Institute| date=May 2010}}</ref>
-*government secrecy or government lying about its activities<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment| author=Naomi Wolf| title=Fascist America, in 10 easy steps| publisher=The Guardian| date=April 24, 2007}}</ref>
-*restricting citizens freedom of movement within or in and out of the country<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-police-state.htm| author=J.E. Holloway| title= What Is a Police State?| publisher=wiseGEEK| date=October 12, 2013}}</ref>
-*monitoring the movements or financial transactions of citizens without probable cause<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rutherford.org/files_images/general/Rise-of-the-American-Police-State-2010.pdf| author=Katherine Coleman, James Parker Gochenour, Kathryn Lawryszek, Nina Chandnani| title=The Rise of the American Police State| publisher=Rutherford Institute| date=May 2010}}</ref>
-*confiscation of personal property<ref>{{cite web| url=http://cdaworldhistory.wikidot.com/totalitarianism:case-study-stalinist-russia| author=Priscilla Franjul| title=Totalitarianism: Case Study–Stalinist Russia| publisher=CDA World History Wiki| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref>
-*no elections or undemocratic elections<ref>{{cite web| url=http://news.discovery.com/human/10-signs-you-live-in-a-police-state-130612.htm| author=Glenn McDonald| title=10 Signs You're Living in a Police State| publisher=Discovery News| date=June 12, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/galip-dalay/egypt-police-state_b_3829334.html| author=Galip Dalay| title=EU Must React Stronger As Egypt Becomes a Police State| publisher=Huffington Post| date=August 28, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/controlstructurerev_print.shtml| title=The structures of control in the Nazi state| publisher=BBC| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://cdaworldhistory.wikidot.com/totalitarianism:case-study-stalinist-russia| author=Priscilla Franjul| title=Totalitarianism: Case Study–Stalinist Russia| publisher=CDA World History Wiki| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007675| title=SS Police State| publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum| accessdate=October 23, 2013}}</ref>
-There are many [[List of freedom indices|freedom indices]] which attempt to rate countries according to the amount of freedom they allow their citizens.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2010/12/annual-international-human-rights-ratings-announced/| author= Michael Kirk| title=Annual International Human Rights Ratings Announced| publisher=University of Connecticut| date=December 10, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world-2013/checklist-questions-and-guidelines| title=Checklist Questions and Guidelines| publisher=Freedom House| accessdate=October 25, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.fraserinstitute.org/uploadedFiles/fraser-ca/Content/research-news/research/publications/ch3-an-index-of-freedom-in-the-world.pdf| title=An Index of Freedom in the World| publisher=Fraser Institute| date=2012| page=4}}</ref> States which fall at the bottom of these rankings have been described as countries "where basic political rights are absent, and basic civil liberties are widely and systematically denied."<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FIW%202013%20Booklet.pdf| title=Freedom in the World 2013| publisher=Freedom House| date=2013| page=4}}</ref>
 ==Examples of states with police state-like attributes==

v t e Secret police agencies in the Eastern Bloc
Gulag Iron Curtain Telephone tapping in the Eastern Bloc Berlin Wall Inner German border
Soviet Union	Extraordinary Commission (Cheka) State Political Directorate (GPU) Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) Main Directorate of State Security (GUGB) People's Commissariat for State Security (NKGB) Ministry of State Security (MGB) Committee for State Security (KGB)
Albania	Directorate of State Security (Sigurimi)
Bulgaria	Committee for State Security (DS)
Czechoslovakia	State Security (StB)
East Germany	Ministry for State Security (Stasi)
Hungary	State Protection Authority (ÁVH) Ministry of Internal Affairs III
Poland	Ministry of Public Security (UB/MBP) Security Service (SB)
Romania	Department of State Security (Securitate)
Yugoslavia	Department of National Security (OZNA) Directorate for State Security (UDBA) Counterintelligence Service (KOS)

v t e Authoritarian and totalitarian forms of government
Forms	Absolute monarchy Autocracy Tsarist Communist state Counterintelligence state Dictatorship Benevolent Constitutional Dictablanda Military Right-wing Dominant-party system Illiberal democracy Totalitarian Mafia state Managerial state Ochlocracy One-party state Oligarchy Police state Theocracy Islamic state Tyranny Majoritarian Soft
Ideologies	Authoritarian conservatism Authoritarian capitalism Authoritarian socialism Marxism–Leninism Stalinism Maoism Caesaropapism Despotism Enlightened Soft Ecoauthoritarianism Fascism Eco Neo Imperialism Nazism Neo
See also	Democracy indices Deep state Inverted totalitarianism Left-wing authoritarianism Right-wing authoritarianism Social dominance orientation Statism Strongman