prerogative state

English

Etymology

Coined by German-Jewish lawyer Ernst Fraenkel in his book The Dual State (1941). The "dual state", originally referring to Nazi Germany, was made up of the normative state and the prerogative state.

Noun

prerogative state (plural prerogative states)

1. A governmental system that exercises unlimited arbitrariness and violence unchecked by any legal guarantees.
   • 2010, Richard Sakwa, “The revenge of the Caucasus: Chechenization and the dual state in Russia”, in Nationalities Papers, volume 38, number 5, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 601–622:

     Post-communist development in Russia has been characterized by the development of a dual state in which the constitutional order is balanced by the consolidation of an arbitrary prerogative state.

   • 2019 March 20, Hualing Fu, “Touching the Proverbial Elephant: The Multiple Shades of Chinese Law”, in China Perspectives‎, volume 2019, number 1, →ISSN, pages 3–9:

     As neo-authoritarianism advances, the [Chinese Communist] Party moves to the front stage and becomes hands-on in managing important affairs, crowding out legal rules and institutions. It has expanded and solidified a prerogative state to solve politically sensitive matters through substantively extra-legal methods.

References

• Fraenkel, Ernst (2018) The Dual State: A Contribution to the Theory of Dictatorship, Oxford University Press, →ISBN