History Main / EmergencyAuthority

* In ''Series/Babylon5'', the Earth Government under [[PresidentEvil President Clark]] uses fear of alien invasion or infiltration to justify martial law and its progression of power grabs. While the fears are generally unfounded, they used scary footage of Shadow ships (their secret allies), {{False Flag Operation}}s (including the assassination of [[spoiler:the previous president]]), and alleged conspiracy theories such as Sheridan and the Minbari breeding Minbari-human hybrids on the Babylon 5 station to subvert the human race -- all in order to build a full-blown Orwellian dictatorship where everyone was paranoid and spying on everyone else, and the government could dispense with its political enemies however it saw fit (this was after Clark had assassinated his predecessor-the death [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident made to look accidental]]-so he could take power to begin with).

* ''ComicBook/SecretEmpire'': Just before the event, Steve Rogers is given the authority, if a severe enough crisis were to occur, to take full command of SHIELD. Funnily enough, soon after this, a severe enough crisis just ''happens'' to occur. Then it turns out that Steve Rogers is the new leader of HYDRA.

[[folder: Anime & Manga]]

* Colonel Shikishima of ''Manga/{{Akira}}'' declares martial law near the end of the movie, taking control of the government in order to pursue Tetsuo and end the psychic crisis without interference from politicians like Nezu.

[[folder: Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/SecretEmpire:'' Just before the event, Steve Rogers is given the authority, if a severe enough crisis were to occur, to take full command of SHIELD. Funnily enough, soon after this, a severe enough crisis just ''happens'' to occur. And then it turns out Steve Rogers is the new leader of HYDRA.
* In ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'' the Norsefire group has been using these sorts of powers to maintain order in Britain, resulting in a dystopian PoliceState society. In the comic books, after [[spoiler:the Leader]] is assassinated, the ambitious head of the [[StateSec Fingermen]] tries to grab power and become the new de facto head of government with this as his justification.
* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': The prequel arc "Origins" shows that the current Justice System was the result of the surging crime rates in the American mega-cities and endemic corruption in the courts, driving a desperate Government Special Prosecutor for Street Crime, Eustace Fargo, to petition Congress to suspend several articles of the constitution and enable him to pioneer a new law enforcement agency empowered with "immediate judgment and sentencing". When U.S. President Robert L. Booth started WorldWarIII in 2070, the Judges declared him a tyrant and removed him from office, using the Declaration of Independence as legal precedent upon Fargo's advice, effectively becoming the new government. Fargo himself alludes to this [[spoiler:on his deathbed]] years later, reminding Dredd that "it was never meant to be forever."

[[folder: Films -- Live-Action]]

* ''Franchise/StarWars Episode II: Film/AttackOfTheClones''. Palpatine manipulated the Galactic Senate to grant Emergency Powers to the Chancellor in the wake of the Separatist Crisis. This meant he received executive privilege to declare the creation of an army and extend his term of office long after it was constitutionally required to end. Such broad powers allowed him to write and pass the Sector Governance Decree, which allowed him to appoint military governors (read: Moffs) to every planet in the Republic. [[spoiler: He ultimately uses this power as one of the stepping stones to reforging the Republic into a Galactic Sith Empire (Palpatine is in fact a Sith Lord named Darth Sidious who manipulated both the Republic and the opposing Separatists as well as turn hero Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader) and ensure he would have these powers and more for the rest of his life in ''Episode III: Film/RevengeOfTheSith''.]]
* ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'' discusses this concept and applies it to Batman's vigilante actions. The crisis is the mob families' control of Gotham City, and the corruption that prevents the police and the courts from opposing the mob. Bruce Wayne justifies his illegal and unethical acts (snooping, beating up criminals, etc.) by insisting that they're temporary measures to help the police do their jobs--once Gotham is able to protect itself, he'll retire the Batman persona. District Attorney Harvey Dent, initially one of Batman's biggest fans, favorably compares Batman to the first Roman dictators.
* ''Film/GabrielOverTheWhiteHouse'' (1933) is a weird film in which TheGreatDepression and the epidemic of organized crime leads the President to take dictatorial control. What's weird is that this is presented in the film as a good thing. Disturbingly, this was an idea some people actually ''liked'' at the time.

* ''Film/DeepImpact'': A benign use comes up when the US President reveals the incoming comet to the public. He immediately invokes emergency powers to declare martial law and freeze the economy in an attempt to forestall unrest and profiteering. This is portrayed as a reasonable response on the government's part and there is no indication that the emergency authority remains in effect after the comet crisis is over.
* ''Film/ShinGodzilla'': The Japanese Prime Minister is forced to declare a state of emergency when it becomes clear that existing laws and procedures are inadequate to deal with the threat posed by Godzilla. Mobilization of the JSDF in the absence of a threat from a foreign country is a particular sticking point, as well as evacuating Tokyo. Even with the declaration in place, supporting legislation has to be rushed through the Diet.
* ''Film/{{Viral}}'': It's announced that to handle the worm flu crisis, US President UsefulNotes/BarackObama has declared martial law, with all law enforcement and emergency personell being federalized. Military helicopters drop supplies off, while soldiers wearing [[GasMaskMooks hazmat suits]] haul away any infected people identified, while preventing others from leaving areas of infection (by deadly force if necessary). Soldiers begin patrolling the streets and declare that people must stay in their homes, with it being a felony to harbor anyone infected. Later they are also indicated to be firebombing sites so the infection is stopped. Also, the governor of California orders that people evacuate the region. This is portrayed as harsh, but probably necessary.

[[folder: Literature]]
* The ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' series (set in the ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' universe) has several examples:

* ''Literature/{{Emberverse}}''. Lawrence Thurston, President-General of the United States of Boise, suspends elections until the end of the emergency, effectively ruling as dictator (literally, as he's copying Ancient Rome). This backfires when the current government officials are getting too old and he decides to reinstate democracy, only to be usurped by his own son who had assumed he would inherit the position. Lawrence realizes too late that he had waited too long to hold an election, as the post-Change generation has no experience of true democracy.

* In ''Literature/ItCantHappenHere'', President Windrip declares a state of emergency (or the 1930s equivalent expression) immediately after taking office and dismisses Congress and the Supreme Court and suspends the Constitution, becoming the dictator of the USA (needless to say, [[IronicEpisodeTitle It Happens Here]]).
* On ''Literature/{{Gor}}'', city-states are normally headed by Administrators and a council, but in times of war the council may appoint a Ubar who is essentially a FantasyCounterpartCulture dictator or Generalissimo. When the crisis is over the Ubar is supposed to cede his power back to the council, but often as not decides to remain Ubar. In that case one of two things happen: either his men leave him and he stays in his castle until he is taken out and executed, or his men stand with him and he remains in power until and unless he is deposed (usually by an outside force with its own Ubar). In practice, almost all city-states we've seen are ruled by a Ubar.
* This turns out to be the reason for the periodic genocidal rampages by the Achuultani in ''Literature/EmpireFromTheAshes'' -- their society is controlled by [[spoiler: an AI that abused emergency protocols to seize absolute power]], the problem being that [[spoiler: the emergency protocols are apparently hard-wired]], so it has to perpetuate a permanent state of crisis to ''maintain'' power, and has completely reshaped Achuultani society and meddled with available technologies for that purpose. The periodic sweeps is simply done so that Achuultani are always doing something that can be defined as fighting a war ''somewhere'' (well, than and removing potential competitors before they get too powerful, but actually fighting efficiently risks ending the crisis).
* As the civil war progresses and the tyrannical US federal government begins to totter in the dystopian near-future setting of ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'', the President, VP, senior legislators of both Houses and most of the Cabinet are suddenly killed in what is said to be (and [[FalseFlagOperation may or may not]] actually be) an improbably successful lone wolf terrorist attack. Then the gloves come off, as the no-nonsense Chairman of the Joint Chiefs shoves aside the designated survivor and proclaims a military government with emergency powers, to last until the rebellion has been suppressed.
* In the ''Literature/BernardSamsonSeries'', it's mentioned that in Berlin there are draconian laws passed by the Allied Powers after the defeat of Nazi Germany which are still on the books and are used by British Intelligence when they need to lock someone up without trial.
* ''Literature/TheSpear'': The [[{{Ghostapo}} Thule Society]] aims to steer global politics to authoritarianism whose only ultimate alternative will be their own system.

[[folder: Live Action TV]]
* ''Series/AlteredCarbon''. After Joshua Kemp announces an end to the ceasefire, Governor Danica Harlen convinces the Cartel to initiate martial law, over Colonel Carrera's objections, which gives her full control over all military assets on the planet. Her first, immediate act, is to use this new power to put every other member of the Cartel under house arrest and revoke their authority, since she knew they were plotting to usurp her.

* In ''Series/Babylon5'', the Earth Government under [[PresidentEvil President Clark]] uses fear of alien invasion or infiltration to justify martial law and its progression of power grabs. While the fears are generally unfounded, they used scary footage of Shadow ships (their secret allies), {{False Flag Operation}}s (including the assassination of [[spoiler: the previous president]]), and alleged conspiracy theories such as Sheridan and the Minbari breeding Minbari-human hybrids on the Babylon 5 station to subvert the human race--all in order to build a full-blown Orwellian dictatorship where everyone was paranoid and spying on everyone else, and the government could dispense with its political enemies however it saw fit (this was after Clark had assassinated his predecessor-the death [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident made to look accidental]]-so he could take power to begin with).

* ''Series/TheCrown2016''. In "Coup", Lord Mountbatten is approached by a cabal of businessmen convinced that the policies of the Wilson government will lead to disaster. specifically [[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1999/01/99/1968_secret_history/245673.stm Plan Brutus]] which will give the government emergency powers to manage the budget deficit. Aware that he's being asked to lead TheCoup, Mountbatten says that's not practical in a First World country like Britain, but it ''would'' be possible if the Queen could be persuaded to invoke the Emergency Powers Act of 1920. Fortunately, Queen Elizabeth II has no intention of undermining democracy and tells Mountbatten it's out of the question.

[[folder: Music]]
* "Order 1081", from the Music/DavidByrne and Music/FatboySlim collaborative album ''Here Lies Love'', describes a power grab by the Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos. In response to a (possibly manufactured) crisis, he signs an act that extends his terms of office and gives him the power to arrest any "suspicious" characters--which just happens to include his political rivals--without actually pressing charges against them.

[[folder: Tabletop Games]]
* During ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension's'' concluding book ''[[EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Ascension]],'' one scenario featured a [[MassSuperEmpoweringEvent mass-Awakening of Sleepers across the world]] forcing the Technocracy to institute their own variation of this in the form of the World Advisory Council, an anti-cult think tank supposedly established to deal with the growing threat of millennial cults. With the Traditions having been framed as apocalypse cults armed with [[SharedMassHallucination hallucinogenic drugs]], the Council ensures that the governments of the world can be directed against the mages without any Sleepers learning the truth - well, any more of it than necessary. Naturally, most of the solutions to the ongoing crisis involve prison camps, brainwashing, and various attempts to wipe out the Traditions once and for all. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for the Technocracy, the sheer volume of Awakenings [[TheUnMasquedWorld breaks the Masquerade so thoroughly that nobody can buy the "terrorism" excuse anymore]], and eventually the Council is stripped of its authority as Sleepers turn on the Technocracy as well.]]
* In the [[TabletopGame/BattleTech BattleTech]] universe, this is how the Captain-General finally became the de facto and hereditary head of state of the Free Worlds League. At the opening of the First Succession War, Captain General Kenyon Marik was able to push through Resolution 288, which essentially gave the Captains-General emergency powers "for the duration of the emergency" (one that, rather conveniently, didn't have any stated end condition, not even the war being won). In actual practice, the Captains-General had been slowly accruing executive power to themselves since the post was shifted from a quasi-elective true emergency dictatorship post that had to be renewed every year by Parliament (somewhat like the ancient Roman ''dictatores'') to a "head of state" post so that the League would have one unified voice on the Star League council. Resolution 288 merely cut most of the remaining leash that Parliament held on the Captain-General. However, the League being [[WeAreStrugglingTogether what it was]], the Captains-General still had to herd cats with Parliament and the provinces at least till the fake Thomas Marik's reforms, which basically amounted to "I'm in charge, you're not, sit down, shut up, and deal with it."

[[folder: Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'': When the Sprawl on the Titan station ends up going through a Necromorph outbreak, [[WellIntentionedExtremist Hans Tideman]] is told by his superiors in EarthGov to not save anybody in the Sprawl. He decides to go against their wishes and declares martial law to save as many people as he could before the situation grew beyond the point of no return.

* In ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', IronLady Supreme Chancellor Saresh goes JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope in the ''Fallen Empire'' & ''Eternal Throne'' expansions and becomes a PresidentEvil using emergency powers to turn TheRepublic into a PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny forcing through whatever laws suit her interests before she's killed/arrested by the PlayerCharacter.

* '"VideoGame/{{Tropico}}" has this in 3 onwards, called Martial Law. Its primarily used to cancel elections, although it does have the side effect of creating [[LaResistance an armed resistance to your tyranny]].

[[folder: Web Animation]]

[[folder: Real Life]]

* ''VideoGame/Tropico'' has this in 3 onwards, called Martial Law. Its primarily used to cancel elections, although it does have the side effect of creating [[LaResistance an armed resistance to your tyranny]].

* Tropico has this in 3 onwards, called Martial Law. Its primarily used to cancel elections, although it does have the side effect of creating [[LaResistance an armed resistance to your tyranny]].

* ''Film/{{Viral}}'': It's announced that to handle the worm flu crisis, US President UsefulNotes/BarackObama has declared martial law, with all law enforcement and emergency personell being federalized. Military helicopters drop supplies off, while soldiers wearing [[GasMaskMooks hazmat suits]] haul away any infected people identified, while preventing others from leaving areas of infection (by deadly force if necessary). Soldiers begin patrolling the streets and declare that people must stay in their homes, with it being a felony to harbor anyone infected. Later they are also indicated to be firebombing sites so the infection is stopped. This is portrayed as harsh, but probably necessary.

* ''Film/{{Viral}}'': It's announced that to handle the worm flu crisis, US President UsefulNotes/BarackObama has declared martial law, with all law enforcement and emergency personell being federalized. Military helicopters drop supplies off, while soldiers wearing [[GasMaskMooks hazmat suits]] haul away any infected people identified, while preventing others from leaving areas of infection (by deadly force if necessary). Soldiers begin patrolling the streets and declare that people must stay in their homes, with it being a felony to harbor anyone infected. It's portrayed as harsh, but probably necessary.

** This happened in [[UsefulNotes/WorldWar2 June 1940]] when France's [[UsefulNotes/GaulsWithGrenades military]] was collapsing under Germany's attack and in a [[MassOhCrap panic]] the parliament voted emergency powers to [[TheQuisling Maréchal Philippe Pétain]], who was a war hero after saving France during the [[DarkestHour Battle of Verdun]] in [[UsefulNotes/WorldWar1 1917]]. The hope was that he could salvage the war. Pétain, who was arguably senile, a [[LesCollaborateurs fascist sympathizer]] and [[KnowWhenToFoldEm saw the writing on the wall]], instead negotiated an armistice with Germany and established [[DayOfTheJackboot Vichy France]].

* Egypt has been under a state of emergency since 1967. It was briefly suspended after the 2011 revolution, [[HereWeGoAgain and then promptly re-instituted]] after Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's coup in 2013.

** On Nusquam Fundimentibus (''The Last Ditch''), the threat of martial law is used to persuade the governor to order the evacuation of the capital ahead of a tyranid attack

* President UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln suspended habeas corpus during the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar, and at one point ordered troops into New York City to suppress the draft riots. Bear in mind that the draft riots, originally a protest against {{conscription}}, devolved into race riots and the worst violence in New York history (even more people died than in 9/11). So within the context, it was seen as necessary. He had suspended it already in Maryland before for much the same reasons and circumstances, while ignoring a court order which commanded release of prisoners detained under this. Both then and now these decisions are controversial to say the least, quite possible the most contested part of his legacy.