History Main / EmergencyAuthority

* The ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' series (set in the ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40K'' universe) has several examples:

* ''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.]]

* ''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.
* In ''Film/TheManchurianCandidate'', the conspirators' plan is to assassinate the leading presidential candidate, to provoke a reaction that, as Eleanor Iselin boasts, "They'll sweep us into the White House with powers that'll make martial law look like anarchy".

* 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.]]

* Indira Gandhi declared [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emergency_(India) such state]] in UsefulNotes/{{India}} after being convicted of [[VoteEarlyVoteOften electoral fraud]] and protestations from her opposition. The Emergency created panic around the world for the possibilities of India becoming a dictatorship but it's high unpopularity and constant protests led to its withdrawal.

* Colonel Shikishima of ''Film/{{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.

** In a case that does not involve suspending the writ of habeas corpus, current president Rodrigo Duterte is banking for the legislature to approve emergency powers for him, to solve [[UsefulNotes/{{Manila}} Manila's]] horrendous traffic situation.

* Indira Gandhi declared [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emergency_(India) such state]] in {{India}} after being convicted of [[VoteEarlyVoteOften electoral fraud]] and protestations from her opposition. The Emergency created panic around the world for the possibilities of India becoming a dictatorship but it's high unpopularity and constant protests led to its withdrawal.

* Germany's constitution under the UsefulNotes/WeimarRepublic included Article 48, which allowed the President to rule by decree without consulting the Reichstag, Germany's parliament. It was intended to be an emergency measure but was used more and more by President Paul von Hindenburg to conduct routine business. It severely destabilized Germany's democracy and provided ThoseWackyNazis with a simple tool to establish a dictatorship after they took power in 1933.

Compare BequeathedPower, which is when someone grants somebody superpowers. Also compare DayOfTheJackboot which ofthen starts with use of emergency authority.

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

-->-- ''Eleanor Iselin'', '''Film/TheManchurianCandidate'''

* "Order 1081", from the 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.

* 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 racial 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.

** It allows the enacting of the state of emergency, which enables authorities to set [[BannedInChina censorship]], [[FascistsBedTime curfews]], house searches in all hours (instead of between 6 p.m. and 10 a.m.) and send people before military courts; however [[ObviousRulePatch the constitution cannot be amended]].

** In French history, the famous ReignOfTerror of UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution was concieved and justified as a state of emergency. Historians don't doubt that the stakes were high, France was in the middle of civil war and external invasion from every European power, and the Terror was part of a declaration of total war. The Terror was noted for its large scale repression of political opponents but statistics show that all of it was contained to areas affected by civil war and the frontiers and that most of France was unaffected, which seems to support that it was mainly a war measure. However later critics point out that the executions and continued and intensified after immediate military threats were dealt with, with even the primitive legal fetters removed in the final months of the "Great Terror".

* Canada has done this [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Measures_Act under the old War Measures Act]] during the two World Wars and in the October Crisis when [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_de_lib%C3%A9ration_du_Qu%C3%A9bec Quebec Liberation Front]] separatist terrorists begun a campaign of bombings, kidnappings, murders and bank robberies throughout Quebec. Canadian Army soldiers were brought in to help law enforcement apprehend suspected [=FLQ=] terrorists and step up security in major cities.

* 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.

* Indira Gandhi declared [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emergency_(India) such state]] in {{India}} after being convicted of [[VoteEarlyVoteOften electoral fraud]] and protestations from her opposition.

-->''"They'll sweep us into the White House with powers that'll make martial law look like anarchy"''
-->--''Eleanor Iselin'', '''Film/TheManchurianCandidate'''

* 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

* The TropeNamer comes from ''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.

* In the ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' series (set in the ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40K'' universe) the Imperium being [[RightHandVersusLeftHand what it is]], the 597th often has to declare martial law in order to get the bureaucrats out of the way (typically because Cain is empowered to shoot them if they don't).

* The TropeCodifier is the Roman title of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_dictator dictator]], which was bestowed in a crisis when singular leadership was needed. The most famous examples of this are {{Cincinnatus}}, who discarded his powers, and Julius Caesar, who refused to recant the title and transformed Rome from a republic to an [[TheEmpire empire]].

Compare BequeathedPower, which is when someone grants somebody superpowers.