Dual state (model)

For other uses, see Dual state (disambiguation) and Dual state.

The dual state is a model in which the functioning of a state is divided into a normative state, which operates according to set rules and regulations, and a prerogative state, "which exercises unlimited arbitrariness and violence unchecked by any legal guarantees".^[1] It was invented by Ernst Fraenkel to describe the functioning of the Nazi state especially law in Nazi Germany, and described in his book The Dual State: A Contribution to the Theory of Dictatorship [de].

Although it was originally intended as an analysis of authoritarian states, some elements of the prerogative state are present in democracies.^[2][3][4] The model has also been applied to other states such as Israel,^[5][6][7][8] the United States,^[9][10] South Africa,^[11] Fascist Italy,^[12] twenty-first century China^[13][14] and Russia^[15][16][17] as well as Lebanon.^[18]

See also

• Deep state
• Dual federalism
• Dual power
• Dualism (politics)
• Fascism
• Political violence
• State violence