{"id":157835,"date":"2025-03-26T14:06:39","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T14:06:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/alabama\/how-the-seeds-of-dictatorship-take-root-in-democracys-soil\/"},"modified":"2025-03-26T14:06:39","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T14:06:39","slug":"how-the-seeds-of-dictatorship-take-root-in-democracys-soil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=157835","title":{"rendered":"How the seeds of dictatorship take root in democracy\u2019s soil"},"content":{"rendered":"


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They are banning books. Silencing teachers. Targeting children and families for who they are and who they love. And they do it all under the banner of \u201cvalues.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1941, German lawyer and political theorist Ernst Fraenkel, who fled Nazi Germany after being banned from practicing law for defending Jews and political dissidents, published The Dual State: A Contribution to the Theory of Dictatorship.<\/em> In it, Fraenkel described a chilling system of governance that maintained the appearance of law and order while, underneath, unchecked power operated at will.<\/p>\n

He called it the dual state: on one side, the normative state, where laws, regulations and procedures still functioned to manage business and routine affairs; on the other, the prerogative state, where decisions were made not by law but by ideological command and personal loyalty to the regime.<\/p>\n

Fraenkel wrote that the normative state existed only \u201cas long as it serves the economic and administrative necessities of the regime,\u201d while the prerogative state \u201chas no need of legal justification.\u201d The law becomes a set piece \u2014 something to display in public, but meaningless when the interests of the regime are at stake. In his analysis, the prerogative state does not replace law overnight. Instead, it lives alongside it, corroding it until, at the regime\u2019s convenience, the entire legal framework collapses into arbitrary rule.<\/p>\n

And it always begins the same way: by targeting those the regime sees as expendable \u2014 minorities, dissenters and anyone whose existence disrupts ideological conformity. Fraenkel warned that the prerogative state starts by silencing a few but ultimately demands silence from all. Those who believe they are safe, he said, \u201chave not yet understood dictatorship.\u201d<\/p>\n

We do not have to imagine how this happens. We can look to Russia and Hungary, both once democratic nations, now hollow authoritarian shells.<\/p>\n

In Russia, once-independent courts and media have been absorbed into state control. Political opponents are imprisoned, exiled or killed. Elections are spectacles. Putin\u2019s vision of power is absolute; he famously said, \u201cThere is no such thing as a former KGB man,\u201d a chilling reminder that for those in power, loyalty is eternal \u2014 and dissent, unforgivable.<\/p>\n

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In Hungary, Viktor Orb\u00e1n has openly built what he calls an \u201cilliberal democracy.\u201d He has packed courts, seized control of media outlets and rewritten educational curricula to suit state ideology. Using \u201cemergency powers\u201d to bypass legislative debate, Orb\u00e1n has demonstrated what happens when the prerogative state no longer finds the normative state useful. His government stages elections not to offer choice but to cement control.<\/p>\n

And here, in America \u2014 and here in Alabama \u2014 we are seeing the same playbook.<\/p>\n

We see legislation aimed not at solving problems, but at punishing those who don\u2019t conform. Transgender children and their families are demonized. Immigrants are treated as invaders. Voter suppression is rationalized as \u201celection integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

We see the control of knowledge itself becoming a battleground. Books are banned, not to protect children but to narrow their minds. Teachers are silenced, universities threatened and entire fields of study rebranded as subversive. In the language of the prerogative state, truth itself becomes dangerous.<\/p>\n

Fraenkel noted that in the dual state, \u201cthe exercise of arbitrary power becomes an institution.\u201d That is exactly what we are witnessing: the institutionalization of fear, where leaders are unrestrained by law and empowered by ideology.<\/p>\n

The slogans are always the same. \u201cFamily values.\u201d \u201cAlabama values.\u201d \u201cTraditional values.\u201d Once meant to unify, these phrases are now used to exclude \u2014 to define who belongs and who must be silenced or cast out.<\/p>\n

The business community may feel safe. Judges may believe their robes protect them. Politicians may think loyalty buys immunity. But arbitrary power respects no titles. The moment the regime no longer finds you useful, the prerogative state turns on you.<\/p>\n

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We are not speculating. We are watching a slow-motion rehearsal of what has already happened in other countries. The question is not whether this could happen here. The question is: what will stop it from happening?<\/p>\n

And history \u2014 the very thing they are trying to erase \u2014 is clear. The prerogative state begins by targeting \u201cothers.\u201d But it ends with everyone under its control.<\/p>\n

Fraenkel warned that the rule of the few begins with division and ends with total subjugation. His book was not merely a scholarly exercise; it was a plea for vigilance.<\/p>\n

If we still believe in democracy \u2014 not its hollow shell but its living, breathing reality \u2014 then we must do more than watch. We must stand with those who are marginalized. We must reject laws that punish difference. We must defend the institutions that protect freedom.<\/p>\n

Because history is not just what was. History is what could be \u2014 if we fail to act.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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And they do it all under the banner of \u201cvalues.\u201d In 1941, German lawyer and political theorist Ernst Fraenkel, who fled Nazi Germany after being banned from practicing law for defending Jews and political dissidents, published The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":157836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11763],"tags":[65042,47762,65040,27070,16751,3737,20597,14523,65041],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-157835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alabama","tag-democracys","tag-dictatorship","tag-ernst-fraenkel","tag-hungary","tag-root","tag-russia","tag-seeds","tag-soil","tag-the-dual-state"],"yoast_head":"\nHow the seeds of dictatorship take root in democracy\u2019s soil - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=157835\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How the seeds of dictatorship take root in democracy\u2019s soil - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"They are banning books. 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