Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

prerogative state

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.08 in modern English

Syllables: pre-rog-a-tive s-tate
IPA

22

Scrabble Score

16

Letters

5

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A governmental system that exercises unlimited arbitrariness and violence unchecked by any legal guarantees.

Example Sentences

"Post-communist development in Russia has been characterized by the development of a dual state in which the constitutional order is balanced by the consolidation of an arbitrary prerogative state."
"As neo-authoritarianism advances, the [Chinese Communist] Party moves to the front stage and becomes hands-on in managing important affairs, crowding out legal rules and institutions. It has expanded and solidified a prerogative state to solve politically sensitive matters through substantively extra-legal methods."

Etymology

Coined by German-Jewish lawyer Ernst Fraenkel in his book The Dual State (1941). The "dual state", originally referring to Nazi Germany, was made up of the normative state and the prerogative state.

Inflected Forms

prerogative states (plural)

Questions

What does prerogative state mean?: A governmental system that exercises unlimited arbitrariness and violence unchecked by any legal guarantees.
Where does prerogative state come from?: Coined by German-Jewish lawyer Ernst Fraenkel in his book The Dual State (1941). The "dual state", originally referring to Nazi Germany, was made up of the normative state and the prerogative state.

How to pronounce prerogative state

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