NCJ Number
230923
Date Published
2010
Length
15 pages
Annotation
After reviewing the history of thought and action that has produced a justification for the existence and functions of the modern state, this chapter examines how the doctrine of the rule of law has produced security-obsessed states whose formal, professionalized legislative and justice systems regularly violate the human rights of those it vows to protect.
Abstract
The chapter first describes how the government according to the "reason of state" during the 16th and 17th centuries led to the emergence of the police state. Potentially unlimited in its function, this state could only be effectively confined internally and not externally. Attempts to keep equilibrium between actual freedom and security proved to be a challenging effort; however, it was an unattainable objective in practice. For the time being, the security imperative has prevailed. This security effort attempts to target threat groups, which tend to become broader and more numerous. Threat groups are targeted for intensive police action and increasing restrictions on their human and civil rights. This erosion of liberties is justified under arguments of exceptional and alarmist conditions of threat from the targeted groups. This chapter proposes the design of a strategy that will provide a context for governing that will foster a greater priority for civil rights and individual liberty that does not allow an obsession for security to trump and erode a state's commitment to its citizens' rights. 17 notes