History Main / EmergencyAuthority

** US law prohibits the military from engaging in activities inside the US, including law enforcement. Apart from the obvious exception in the event of invasion, there are also provisions for declaring martial law in emergencies like hurricanes and situations where normal law enforcement has ceased functioning. One of the most famous of the latter was the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Rock_Nine Little Rock Nine,]] where nine Black students attempted to attend all-white Little Rock Central High School in 1957, following court orders and the approval of the school board and mayor. Governor Orval Faubus called out the Arkansas National Guard to prevent this, claiming he was [[BlatantLies preserving the peace]], prompting President Eisenhower to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, [[SummonBiggerFish take command of the ARNG himself, and also dispatch the 101st Airborne Division]] to see that the students attended without interference.

* ''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 United States Attorney General, 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 the U.S. President started WorldWarIII, the Judges declared him a tyrant and removed him from office, 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".

* 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.

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

* Indira Gandhi declared [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emergency_(India) such a 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 its high unpopularity and constant protests led to its withdrawal.

* Martial law was invoked twice in [[UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}} the Philippines]]' history, the first by Ferdinand Marcos in 1972 (until 1981) which led to thousands of deaths, and the other a lesser-known one by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2009 at Maguindanao after the massacre of over 50 people, most of them being journalists.

* In the United States, state governorships can invoke statutes to declare a state of emergency which allows them powers like declaring stay-at-home orders and getting funds to help the state. But they’re often limited in scope, with things like needing to be approved and renewed every 30 days. The exact rules vary by state. Several states had this happen during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. It is also possible on the federal level but as with the governors, there are a lot of limits to prevent too much power being granted. The [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Emergencies_Act National Emergencies Act]] allows this, and Congress can terminate emergency powers with a resolution and there are specific types of emergencies defined where it’s permissible.

* In the [[TabletopGame/BattleTech BattleTech]] universe, this is how the Captain-General became the de facto and hereditary head of state of the Free Worlds League. Unlike many examples, The Captain-Generalcy has had a relatively weak hold over the union, to the point where the FWL has been memeticly described as under perpetual civil war. In a bit of irony, the League’s strongest leader was actually an impersonator who had replaced the real leader after the latter was injured in a bombing, and the last leader of the League before it finally fragmented during the Jihad and Dark Age.

** In French history, the famous ReignOfTerror of UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution was conceived 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".

* In the United States, state governorships can invoke statutes to declare a state of emergency which allows them powers like declaring stay-at-home orders and getting funds to help the state. But they’re often limited in scope, with things like needing to be approved and renewed every 30 days. The exact rules vary by state. Several states had this happen during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. It is also possible on the federal level but as with the governors, there are a lot of limits to prevent too much power being granted. The [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Emergencies_Act National Energencies Act]] allows this, and Congress can terminate emergency powers with a resolution and there are specific types of emergencies defined where it’s permissible.

* ''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 United States Attorney General, 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 the U.S. President started WorldWarIII, the Judges declared him a tyrant and removed him from office, effectively becoming the new government. Fargo himself alludes to this [[spoiler:on his deathbed]] years later, telling Dredd that "it was never meant to be forever".

* In the United States, state governorships can invoke statutes to declare a state of emergency which allows them powers like declaring stay-at-home orders and getting funds to help the state. But they’re often limited in scope, with things like needing to be approved and renewed every 30 days. The exact rules vary by state. Several states had this happen during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.

* ''Film/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/TheDarkKnightSaga'' 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.

** In French history, the famous ReignOfTerror of UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution was conceived 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".

* 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 its high unpopularity and constant protests led to its withdrawal.
** In the case of Kashmir, India has maintained martial law and curfew in the state with its army occupying and administering the valley for decades, with their rule being highly unpopular among locals.

* During the "Period of mobilization for the suppression of [[USefulNotes/ChineseCivilWar Communist rebellion]]" ranging from 1949 to 1987, UsefulNotes/{{Taiwan}} was under [[RedScare martial law]] due to the "Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion" and the threat the "[[UsefulNotes/ChineseWithChopperSupport Red bandits]]" posed to the island.

** 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. Another case is Arroyo's declaration of state of emergency in 2006 after the government claimed that they foiled an alleged coup attempt.

* ''Film/GabrielOverTheWhiteHouse'' (1933) is a weird film in which TheGreatDepression and the epidemic of organized crime leads the President to take dictatorial powers. What's weird is that this is presented in the film as a good thing.

* In ''Literature/ItCantHappenHere'', President Windrip declares a state of emergency (or the 1930s equivalent expression) immediately after taking office and dismisses Congress & the Supreme Court and suspends the Constitution, becoming the dictator of the USA. (Needless to say [[IronicEpisodeTitle It Happens Here]].)

* As the civil war progresses and the tyrannical 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.

* On ''Series/{{Babylon 5}}'', 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 UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories 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.

** The Republic later made up other forms of emergency measures, largely because the extraordinary conditions that call for dictatorship cannot be invoked to deal with say reform movements by tribunes and others. So there needed to be another means that was strictly speaking, not in the constitution. The most notable is what Julius Caesar described as the ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senatus_consultum_ultimum Senatus Consultum Ultimum]]'', calling on the consuls "to see that no harm comes to the state". Under this decree, Gaius Gracchus and his supporters, and some 1000 others were murdered without a trial and their bodies dumped in the Tiber river. Cicero invoked this again during the Catiline Conspiracy to justify the summary execution without trial of supporters of Catilina and calling the latter an {{Outlaw}}. The decree was invoked against a rebel general Marcus Lepidus, and finally was invoked by the Senate to illegally appoint Pompey a single consul for a year. The Consul was an elected office and the Senate had no right to nominate a candidate (more or less Dictator with the SerialNumbersFiledOff).
** Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix in his Second March on Rome, had himself elected dictator for life, and ruled for three years presiding over mass purges and confiscation of property before surrendering his title. Decades later, UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar so nearly one of Sulla's victims, claimed dictator-for-life after defeating Pompey, and ruled for five years before his assassination. His successor UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} largely phased out the word dictator and called himself Princeps, [[JustTheFirstCitizen the First Citizen]] even if he was far and away the most dictatorial of that entire period and his regime was the TropeMaker and TropeCodifier for modern dictatorship.

* [[UsefulNotes/{{France}} French law]]

** The ''état de siège'', or martial law, allows military courts to try defendents and let the military rules a place instead of the civilians.

Contrast ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem, where the autocrat doesn't even bother with the bureaucracy and rules as he sees fit. SisterTrope to {{Cincinnatus}}, where someone really does give up their Emergency Powers. Related to LetNoCrisisGoToWaste, where something negative is turned positive, and is the ideal (but far rarer) scenario for Emergency Powers.

* On ''Series/{{Babylon 5}}'', 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 [[BiggerBad Shadow]] ships (their secret allies), {{False Flag Operation}}s (including the assassination of [[spoiler: the previous president]]), and alleged UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories 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.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''. After the [[TheGovernment Central 46]] was destroyed by [[BigBad Aizen]], Gotei 13 leader [[BadassGrandpa Yamamoto]] assumed total control as a military dictator until suitable replacements could be found. As a non-abusive example, Yamamoto used the authority to overturn the [[TheExile miscarriage of justice]] Aizen had previously engineered against Urahara's group and the Visoreds before giving up the authority as promised once the new Central 46 was convened.

* ''Film/GabrielOverTheWhiteHouse'' (1933) is a weird film in which UsefulNotes/TheGreatDepression and the epidemic of organized crime leads the President to take dictatorial powers. What's weird is that this is presented in the film as a good thing.

* This was a critical plot point of ''Film/CrimsonTide'', in which the American nuclear submarine ''Alabama'' last received a confirmed communique that a breakaway Soviet state was fueling their nuclear missiles. When further communication with Washington was lost, the Captain acted on the Emergency Protocol that America was being nuked to rubble, and that the ''Alabama's'' mission was to launch a counterstrike against Russia. The Executive Officer had to organize a mutiny to prevent the Captain from starting World War [=III=].

* On ''Series/{{Babylon 5}}'', 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 [[BiggerBad Shadow]] ships (their secret allies), {{False Flag Operation}}s (including the assassination of [[spoiler: the previous president]]), and alleged [[ConspiracyTheory 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.

* Egypt is under martial law since 1967.

* 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]]. Late in the Republic, the Senate preferred to resort to the ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senatus_consultum_ultimum Senatus Consultum Ultimum]]'', calling on the consuls "to see that no harm comes to the state", rather than appoint a Dictator. Whether the decree granted the immunity from prosecution a dictator enjoyed was never settled.
** The most remarkable part of the Dictatorship was that every dictator returned power to the Senate at the end of their term for over 200 years. Cincinnatus was notable for solving his crisis in a matter of months and then handing power back early rather than letting it expire. Twice. Julius Caesar instead opted to have the Senate keep reelecting him to the office. It was during the Second Punic War when the office of Dictator was fatally undermined. Fabian Maximus Cunctator's delaying tactics were so unpopular, the Senate declared his political enemy Marcus Minucius co-Dictator.