History Main / OppressiveStatesOfAmerica

TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, or perhaps an AlternateHistory gone wrong, the United States is [[BrokenPedestal no longer the shining beacon of democracy that it once was]]. Perhaps [[DividedStatesOfAmerica civil war]] and/or an [[InvadedStatesOfAmerica invasion]] has turned the country into TheDictatorship, [[MegaCorp corporate influence has undermined]] the democratic ideals the nation once held, a [[CorruptChurch theocratic religious movement]] has taken control of the government, or democracy has been [[EmergencyAuthority suspended in order to fight off]] external or internal threats, real and/or imagined. Whatever the reason, the nation is only a [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny democracy in name]], or sometimes, not even that if the [[AtLeastIAdmitIt regime is painfully honest]].

Expect to see FEMA, DHS agents, cops that are always clad in riot gear, or even the [[UsefulNotes/YanksWithTanks military]] patrolling the streets, [[PoliceBrutality harassing innocent citizens for arbitrary crimes or by virtue of simply "being there."]] Civil rights have been suspended for the "greater good," and political dissidents are [[ReleasedToElsewhere shipped off to concentration camps]] or made to "quietly disappear", [[FinalSolution never to be seen again]].

A LaResistance of sorts will be featured usually, made up of fed-up citizens, and sometimes [[DefectorFromDecadence former]] or [[HeelFaceTurn dissenting]] military or police personnel that are following their oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign '''and domestic'''. Regardless, they'll be dismissed as terrorists by the American government, and will usually be used to justify the oppression.

In a political work that is left-leaning, expect to see this trope overlap with The Boorish version of {{Eagleland}}, an America where [[TheTheocracy separation of church and state no longer exists]] and in which the [[EveryManHasHisPrice government is in the pockets]] of [[CorruptCorporateExecutive crooked businessmen]] and [[GeneralRipper warmongers]] - or a [[WarForFunAndProfit combination of both]], all sponsored by the [[PresidentEvil brutal and crooked president]]. Right-leaning works will favor a CommieLand America, with shades of either old-style Stalinism or '60s radicalism depending on the period the work came from; or since the end of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror radical Islamists imposing Sharia law]], in which the separation of church and state no longer exists. Libertarian and centrist works will often take elements of both of these portrayals.

Can overlap with FallenStatesOfAmerica, if the nation has become a dictatorship as a result of the fallen status, or is one of the reasons behind it, although it is possible for the US to still be a superpower, or at least still be a "first-world nation". DividedStatesOfAmerica or a SecondAmericanCivilWar is also a possible trope as well, as the remaining US government may be trying to keep what is left of the nation together by any means possible, if the oppressive was not the cause of the CivilWar to begin with. (Of course, [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized The revolution may not be civilized as well.]])

InvadedStatesOfAmerica can count too when the nation goes dictatorial to protect against the enemy, or if the invaded sections are under a restrictive foreign government. Also see EvilStatesOfAmerica, which is where the United States are the badguys, oppressive or not.

'''No Real Life Examples past the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement of the 1960s.''' Needless to say, many ideologues and {{conspiracy theorist}}s on all extremes of the political spectrum believe this trope to be TruthInTelevision, some tropers and readers could probably write an essay complete with citations about how there are at least some elements that are truthful, let's just leave it at that.

* The ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "A Better World" takes place in an AlternateUniverse where the Justice League has become the tyrannical Justice Lords after the death of Franchise/TheFlash, and the subsequent murder of Lex Luthor. The Justice Lords appear to have an iron grip on everything, even going so far as to lobotomize their enemies, and keeping them in a place that is decidedly ''not'' a CardboardPrison.

TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, or perhaps an AlternateHistory gone wrong, the United States is [[BrokenPedestal no longer the shining beacon of democracy that it once was]]. Perhaps [[DividedStatesOfAmerica civil war]] and/or an [[InvadedStatesOfAmerica invasion]] has turned the country into TheDictatorship, [[MegaCorp corporate influence has undermined]] the democratic ideals the nation once held, a [[CorruptChurch theocratic religious movement]] has taken control of the government, or democracy has been [[EmergencyAuthority suspended in order to fight off]] external or internal threats, real and/or imagined. Whatever the reason, the nation is only a [[DemocracyIsBad democracy in name]], or sometimes, not even that if the [[AtLeastIAdmitIt regime is painfully honest]].

* If you were black during the [[UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement era of segregation]] in the US, you were in for a bad time. In certain parts of America, a black person who did or said the wrong thing (or was even accused or suspected of doing the wrong thing), especially to a white person, was pretty much doomed -- even if he or she was proclaimed innocent by the court, he or she was in very real danger of being [[VigilanteExecution lynched]] by an [[TorchesAndPitchforks angry white mob]], with the police either [[PoliceAreUseless standing by and doing nothing]] or, worse, [[PoliceBrutality actively egging them on or joining in]]. And across the country, black people and other minorities were [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundown_town not even allowed to live in certain towns, or even be in them after dark unless required by their job]].

** In the North, meanwhile, segregation was carried out through means that were less blatant, yet arguably more insidious and harder to root out through government action. Most often, it was economic segregation, with black people being forced into ghettoes through discriminatory housing and real estate policies, and a thick glass ceiling preventing them from getting decent educations or careers. Affirmative action policies were created in TheSeventies in order to mitigate the effects of this 'soft' discrimination, but they haven't been without controversy.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series. Before the [[WorldWarIII Great War]], the United States government had become increasingly paranoid and militaristic in the face of the resource shortages and the Sino-American War. Going so far as to censor speech and secretly nationalizing companies. The Enclave (the éminence grise of the federal government) exacerbated geopolitical relations and ignored the Constitution of the United States, put into motion a series of unconstitutional, inhumane, and war criminal projects; (for example; the Robobrain manufacturing process -- where factories were set up to extract the brains ''from living prisoners'' to be used for expendable robot processors, the various Vault experiments, the Forced Evolutionary Virus experiments, the various bio weapons programs, et cetera). While [[AfterTheEnd after the war]], they were willing to cause global genocide to achieve its goals of wiping out communism and becoming the sole heirs of the planet.

TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, or perhaps an AlternateHistory gone wrong, the United States is [[BrokenPedestal no longer the shining beacon of democracy that it once was]]. Perhaps [[CivilWar civil]] [[DividedStatesOfAmerica war]] and/or an [[InvadedStatesOfAmerica invasion]] has turned the country into TheDictatorship, [[MegaCorp corporate influence has undermined]] the democratic ideals the nation once held, a [[CorruptChurch theocratic religious movement]] has taken control of the government, or democracy has been [[EmergencyAuthority suspended in order to fight off]] external or internal threats, real and/or imagined. Whatever the reason, [[BlatantLies the nation is only a]] [[DemocracyIsBad democracy in name]], or sometimes, not even that if the [[AtLeastIAdmitIt regime is painfully honest]].

Expect to see FEMA, DHS agents, cops that are always clad in riot gear, or even the [[UsefulNotes/YanksWithTanks military]] patrolling the streets, [[PoliceBrutality harassing innocent citizens for arbitrary crimes or by virtue of simply "being there."]] Civil rights have been suspended for the "greater good," and political dissidents are [[ReleasedToElsewhere shipped off to concentration camps or made to "quietly disappear",]] [[FinalSolution never to be seen again]].

* In the Southwest, Mexicans and Mexican-Americans were [[http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/images/cr0024_enlarge.jpg collectively excluded from white establishments along with African-Americans]] and [[InsultToRocks dogs.]] Any Mexican accused of wrongdoing against a white person also faced [[http://latinousa.org/2016/03/11/the-history-of-anti-mexican-violence-and-lynching/ the same fate of an African-American under]] [[TorchesAndPitchforks similar]] [[VigilanteExecution circumstances.]]

* ''Film/Firebird2015AD'': The US government just woke up one day in August 1992 and decreed that gasoline would be used by law enforcement and military use only, creating an agency to stomp down on any civilian use of gasoline. The film takes place [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 23 years after the edict was passed]], with driving [[SeriousBusiness having become a symbol of rebellion]]. It is implied that the government did not stopped there, but the film does not focuses on that.

* ''Film/Firebird2015AD'': The US government just woke up one day in August 1992 and decreed that gasoline would be used by law enforcement and military use only, creating an agency to stomp down on any civilian use of gasoline. The film takes place [[TwentyYearsIntoTheFuture 23 years after the edict was passed]], with driving [[SeriousBusiness having become a symbol of rebellion]]. It is implied that the government did not stopped there, but the film does not focuses on that.

* In ''LightNovel/BlackBullet'', the light novels mentioned many countries that treat cursed children much worse than Tokyo. United States happens to be one of them, as cursed children are hunted down and captured like wild animals, forced into slavery (usually either sold into sex slavery or to civil security companies), and used as experiments to unlock their superhuman abilities and implanting Varanium parts in their bodies.

* In Philip K Dick’s novel “Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said”, the police and the National Guard (often referred to as “pols” and “nats” in the story) have come to restore order and install a dictatorship in the United States following a Second Civil War. They enforce checkpoints throughout the country, and those who don’t provide identification are shipped off to labor camps.

* In ''Literature/ParableOfTheTalents'' by Creator/OctaviaButler, the U.S. has become this. The United States is ruled by Jarrett, an Evangelical Christian who uses all non-Christians as a scapegoat and puts them in concentration camps. The country is in shambles and Alaska has seceded from the union and is at war with Canada.

** Another version of the US has this almost happen to it, with a popular Presidential candidate spouting slogans like "America for Americans" and advocating for the removal of all those who don't fit the American "genetic standard" (ironically, ''Native'' Americans would probably be kicked out too). Basically, anyone non-white might as well move to Mexico. He has already managed to do this to California (being the state's governor). His company is also supplying so-called robotic servants to do medial tasks. The dark secret of his campaign is that those servants are, in fact, US citizens who don't fit the "standard" and are forced to undergo UnwillingRoboticisation.
* Likewise, an alternate universe in ''Series/LoisAndClark'' brought us President Charlton Heston. One person, one vote, one semi-automatic rifle! It's implied that the reason America has degraded into a wild west nightmare is because Alt-Clark married Lana Lang, who [[HenpeckedHusband forbids him from fighting crime]].

* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' The fourth season's plot is basically the story of how [[spoiler:The Samaritan artificial intelligence system]] begins constructing one before moving onto the world. Building a large network of politicians to do its bidding, creating the means to brainwash the next generation of American children and manipulating the intel given to counter-terrorist operatives are just the tip of the iceberg of the steps it takes to achieve its goal.

* ''Literature/{{Caliphate}}'' has the United States become an Christian theocratic empire in response to an nuclear assault in their territory and [[{{Eurabia}} Western Europe being converted into an Islamic state]]. The President outright rules like an Emperor in-name-only, the Constitution is repealed and they have annexed most of the American continent such as Canada and Mexico - the few independent countries not under their control such as Brazil and the Philippines are just client states instead.

* If you were black during the [[UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement era of segregation]] in the US, you were in for a bad time. In certain parts of America, a black person who did or said the wrong thing (or was even accused or suspected of doing the wrong thing), especially to a white person, was pretty much doomed -- even if he or she was proclaimed innocent by the court, he or she was in very real danger of being [[VigilanteExecution lynched]] by an [[TorchesAndPitchforks angry white mob]], with the police either [[PoliceAreUseless standing by and doing nothing]] or, worse, [[PoliceBrutality actively egging them on]]. And across the country, black people and other minorities were [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundown_town not even allowed to live in certain towns, or even be in them after dark unless required by their job]].

[[folder:Film]]

* In ''Literature/{{Reds}}'', due to UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley not being assassinated by Leon Czolgosz (the rewrite re-imagines the point of divergence being a more unified Socialist movement by the end of the 1890s) a socialist regime takes control of America by revolution in 1933, and becomes the Union of American Socialist Republics (UASR). However, in this case [[ChummyCommies the socialists are (mostly) the good guys]]. Not surprisingly, it was the attempt of previous administrations to suppress radical socialism [[SelfFulfillingProphecy that caused this revolution]]. This trope varies in its severity throughout this timeline:

** The early years of the UASR are a downplayed version of this trope. Many people are dealt with by KangarooCourt and firing squads, but it is nowhere near the scale of the Soviet Union, and many of the sentenced were responsible for suppressing American democracy. These actions are still seen in-universe as a black spot on the early history of the UASR, but none of the UASR leaders are portrayed as evil for them.

* In ''Literature/TheFalconCannotHear'', where the assassination of UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt in 1933 leads to a [[DividedStatesOfAmerica Second American Civil War]] by 1937, many of the factions involved in the fighting are some flavor of authoritarian. The American Soviet Republic is a Moscow-backed Stalinist state, the Civilian Government (aka the Whites) is a coalition of fascists and corporate interests backed by UsefulNotes/NaziGermany, and UsefulNotes/DouglasMacArthur's military government (aka the Khakis) is the heir to the military coup that started the civil war in the first place. Only the Red Oak Pact, a coalition between the democratic socialist Provisional Government (aka the Blues) and the agrarian populist Continental Congress (aka the Greens), can be considered benign; while they get their share of WhatTheHellHero moments as well, they're very much ALighterShadeOfGrey compared to the competition. [[spoiler:Fortunately, the Red Oak Pact eventually prevails, with the Khakis collapsing after a hurricane hits UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC and kills [=MacArthur=], disgruntled leaders and factions in the Whites and Reds defecting to the Red Oak Pact, and the Canadians eventually sending troops to support them.]]

* In ''Literature/WeAreLegionWeAreBob'', when Bob is re-awakened 117 years after being hit by a car, he learns that the US was taken over by the religious right and transformed into the Free American Independent Theocratic Hegemony (FAITH for short). Incorrect thought is remedied by brainwashing straight out of ''Film/AClockworkOrange'', numerous theocratic factions are too busy fighting with one another to actually run the country, the Internet is gone (the information there is hard to control), and history has undergone many revisions by the government.

* The game ''TabletopGame/SIGMATAThisSignalKillsFascists'' is set in an alternate [=80s=] era America that has been taken over by homegrown fascism, but is meant to draw parallels to America under UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, who was President when the game was released. The police and the military have been consolidated into one body called the "Freedom Fist" that enforces a nationalistic and oppressive rule across America. Immigrants are hauled into internment camps for daring to outstay their welcome. The media are controlled, and all forms of communication are used to try to catch would-be resisters; the only hope the five groups that make up the resistance have is The Signal, which gives those that have been attuned to it the power to fight back against the Freedom Fist and the Regime.

* ''Film/DemolitionMan'': Set in a future where the US has gone totalitarian, banning virtually anything that could possibly be [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad considered unhealthy or offensive.]] Heavily implied to have come about after a period of [[MegaCorp mass privatization]] and civil unrest.

* The first half of ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'' has the United States [[FallenStatesOfAmerica turn into]] an [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad overly politically correct]] and repressive state where people are sued heavily for something as simple as smoking and other people being nearby. This leads to riots in the streets, militia uprisings, and roving gangs in big cities and ends with a very suspicious-looking terrorist attack that blows Washington D.C. off the map and kills off a majority of the Presidential line of succession. The second half is about the aftermath, following the ([[DesignatedHero supposedly]]) heroic successor state of Victoria as it conquers rival successor states with its militia forces and sheer unpredictability. They then proceed to create their own version of this trope, though theirs is on the opposite side of the political spectrum, being a right-wing fundamentalist state. [[AuthorTract The narrative paints this as a happy ending]].

Can overlap with FallenStatesOfAmerica, if the nation has become a dictatorship as a result of the fallen status, or is one of the reasons behind it, although it is possible for the US to still be a superpower, or at least still be a "first-world nation". DividedStatesOfAmerica or a SecondAmericanCivilWar is also a possible trope as well, as the remaining US government may be trying to keep what is left of the nation together by any means possible, if the oppressive was not the cause of the CivilWar to begin with, (Of course, [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized The revolution may not be civilized as well.]])

* In ''WebOriginal/TheInnoent'', the United States, like the rest of the world, is taken over by children who [[MadeASlave turns all the adults into slaves]].

** When the socialist Worker's Party wins the 1932 election in a landslide, First Secretary Nicholas Longworth and General UsefulNotes/DouglasMacArthur successfully pressure outgoing President UsefulNotes/HerbertHoover to suspend the Constitution, paving the way for the assassination of the Socialist President-Elect Norman Thomas and a mass arrest of the Worker's Party leading members. The so-called [[NonIndicativeName Freedom Corps]] and TheKlan attempt to put down any opposition, notably massacring Huey Long and disloyal members of the Louisiana State Legislature when they openly protest against this bold-faced subversion of the Constitution. This is the final straw that sets the stage for the Civil War from which the UASR will be birthed.

* In ''Literature/America2014'', the [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush George Blush]] Administration passed a law that stripped voting rights from anyone convicted for drug-related crimes, disenfranchising a large enough percentage of the population that the Republicans cemented their control of the government after 2004. The country is renamed "God's United States", and [[PresidentForLife Blush is on his 4th term]] by the title year. Everyone is subject to SinisterSurveillance, the War on Terror seems like it will last forever, and dissidents are sent to {{Nightmarish Prison}}s by a KangarooCourt.

* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}},'' the fourth Megamorphs book suddenly opens here with no initial explanation; it quickly comes out that Visser Four managed to find the [[TimeMachine Time Matrix]] and rewrite history. As a result the United States is an empire trying to wipe out "primitives" in South America, slavery is legal (though based on disability rather than race), [[TheLeader Jake]] is a SociopathicHero and [[DarkActionGirl Rachel]] is in a reeducation camp to "[[StayInTheKitchen learn her place]]." Fortunately this circumstance is inconvenient for both of the series' {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s, who restore the Animorphs' memories and send them through time to fix things.

* In ''Literature/{{Reds}}'', due to UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley not being assassinated by Leon Czolgosz (the rewrite re-imagines the point of divergence being a more unified Socialist movement by the end of the 1890s) a socialist regime takes control of America by revolution in 1933, and becomes the Union of American Socialist Republics (UASR). Not surprisingly, it was the attempt of previous administrations to suppress radical socialism [[SelfFulfillingProphecy that caused this revolution]]. This trope varies in its severity throughout this timeline:

** When the socialist Worker's Party wins the 1932 election in a landslide, First Secretary Nicholas Longworth and General UsefulNotes/DouglasMacArthur successfully pressures outgoing President UsefulNotes/HerbertHoover to suspend the Constitution, paving the way for the assassination of the Socialist President-Elect Norman Thomas and a mass arrest of the Worker's Party leading members. The so-called [[NonIndicativename Freedom Corps]] attempt to put down any opposition, notably massacring Huey Long and disloyal members of the Louisiana State Legislature when they openly protest against this bold-faced subversion of the Constitution. This is the final straw sets the stage for the Civil War from which the UASR will be birthed.

* The game ''TabletopGame/{{SIGMATA}}'' is set in an alternate [=80s=] era America that has been taken over by homegrown fascism, but is meant to draw parallels to America under UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, who was President when the game was released. The police and the military have been consolidated into one body called the "Freedom Fist" that enforces a nationalistic and oppressive rule across America. Immigrants are hauled into internment camps for daring to outstay their welcome. The media are controlled, and all forms of communication are used to try to catch would-be resisters; the only hope the five groups that make up the resistance have is The Signal, which gives those that have been attuned to it the power to fight back against the Freedom Fist and the Regime.

** ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'':
*** One of the outcomes of the 1972 election is for [[PresidentEvil Francis Parker Yockey]], an open Nazi sympathizer, to take office. If he does so he will begin tearing down American democracy, brings segregation to extremes [[EvenEvilHasStandards even hardcore segregationists think is too far]], encouraging [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain racist hate crimes against ethnic minorities]], refuse to prosecute TheKlan when they commit said hate crimes, give funding and intel to [[ThoseWackyNazis the Reich]][[note]]Well, actually to [[spoiler: the ''[[OmnicidalManiac Burgundians]]'', who he mistakes for Germans]][[/note]], shuts down freedom of the press, and making himself PresidentForLife. Every week there is a Waco-like event, and the country is effectively following an American brand of Nazism. By the admission of the developers, he is ''the'' most tyrannical leader for the United States to elect.
*** Another outcome of the 1972 election would be for [[WellIntentionedExtremist Gus Hall]] to take power. At first he doesn't seem so bad as he advocates for racial equality and worker's rights, but as time goes on he shows himself to be a [[DirtyCommunists Stalin-esque tyrant]] who purges political opponents, expands state power (when not needed) under the guise of enforcing civil rights, and encourages political violence on the streets. Not only does he weaken the CIA ''while in a cold war with the NAZIS of all people'', but he also [[DisproportionateRetribution spreads homophobia just to shut up one gay critic of his]].

*** Another outcome of the 1972 election would be for [[WellIntentionedExtremist Gus Hall]] to take power. At first he doesn't seem so bad as he advocates for racial equality and worker's rights, but as time goes on he shows himself to be a [[DirtyCommunists Stalin-esque tyrant]] who purges political opponents, expands state power (when not needed) under the pretense of enforcing civil rights, and encourages political violence on the streets. Not only does he weaken the CIA ''while in a cold war with the NAZIS of all people'', but he also [[DisproportionateRetribution spreads homophobia just to shut up one gay critic of his]].

* ''VideoGame/KaiserreichLegacyOfTheWeltkrieg'':
** If UsefulNotes/DouglasMacArthur becomes president in the events that lead to the Second American Civil War, then he can either become {{Cincinnatus}} and step down after the war has ended, or more likely he'll decide to keep his "emergency powers" and become PresidentForLife, maintaining his military junta indefinitely. Even the former outcome has a horrible precedent for American human rights and democracy.
** If the Second American Civil War results in a [[DeepSouth American Union State]] victory and then has [[KnightTemplar William Pelley]] assassinate Huey Long in the resulting power struggle, it leads to the new American nation becoming a "democracy" [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain where only white Christian men get the vote]], leftists are worked to death in concentration camps, and race crimes against black Americans become just another part of daily life. The new nation becomes OneNationUnderCopyright as he reforms the economic system to be dominated by monopolies loyal to him, the KKK become an influential part of the new government, and the Minutemen become a StateSec who crush all his opposition. Pelley also prohibits vaccines under the new regime (as he believes they are a leftist plot), which results in the biggest polio outbreak in American history and millions of Americans are left crippled. The Second American Civil War and its belligerents are all generally treated as GreyAndGrayMorality, but Pelley's vision for a new America is [[DownerEnding rightly treated as a horrible conclusion]].
** Likewise, if the AUS win the war and the Corporatists have sufficient power within the alliance, they can also [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness get rid of Long]] without instituting his populist reforms and seize power for themselves indefinitely. In fact even if Long wins the ensuing power struggle, it results in a dictatorship, though he at least [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans enforces benevolent social and economic policies while using the Minutemen to crush all his enemies]].
** Also if the Combined Syndicalists of America win and then [[DirtyCommies Browder or Foster's Totalist movement]] seize power, the nation becomes a purge-happy USSR {{Expy}}. However there is then a chance that Smedley Butler will [[RevolvingDoorRevolution march his army on Washington to force the new regime to stand down]], [[{{Irony}} ironically in the same way MacArthur may have done to kick off the civil war in the first place]].