The "Parallel State" is a term coined by American historian Robert Paxton to describe a collection of organizations or institutions that are state-like in their organization, management and structure, though they are not officially part of the legitimate state or government. They serve primarily to promote the prevailing political and social ideology of the state.
The Parallel State differs from the more commonly used "state within a state" in that they are usually endorsed by the prevailing political elite of a country, while the "state within a state" is a pejorative term to describe state-like institutions that operate without the consent of, and even to the detriment to, the authority of an established state (e.g. Churches and religious institutions or secret societies with their owns laws and court systems).
Parallel States are common in societies, such as Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, the Soviet Union, Iran and North Korea, and comprise of youth organizations, leisure organizations, work/labor collectives, unions and militias.
Famous quotes containing the words parallel and/or state:
“The universe expects every man to do his duty in his parallel of latitude.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The concept of a mental state is primarily the concept of a state of the person apt for bringing about a certain sort of behaviour.”
—David Malet Armstrong (b. 1926)