AHC: A Literal Police State

Some time in the 20th or 21st century, in a country with a high degree of street crime some employees of the local police force decide to establish a party, the PPP (Party of Patriotic Policemen)

It is a center-right, generally Conservative party whose core ideologies also include adherence to Secularism and some degree of egalitarianism, while strongly advocating change towards a stronger rule of law and harsh measures towards decreasing violent crime. The party also proudly incorporates Cop Culture into its style, for example party members attend Parliament assemblies in police uniforms, and the party's symbol is a tactical shield with a police cap above it, and a pistol and baton crossed in front of the shield, giving the appearance of a modernized version of Medieval heraldic traditions.

The party manages to win a landslide victory and starts incorporating new measures, such as a larger number of officers patrolling the streets, better salaries and training for the police force, and longer prison sentences for crimes.


How plausible is a development such as this? In which country could this most likely happen and when?
 
You'd need a country with a political system which is very conducive for small, special interest parties. The Netherlands is a great example, and they literally had a Police Party (Amsterdam Police and Firefighting Party) at one point. The thing is a police party (even if you include the firefighters) seems like too much of a special interest party to gain widespread support. Maybe if you had even more refugees in the Netherlands (or whatever similar European country) AND several high-profile crimes plus some terrorist attacks and found the "police party" a charismatic policeman to lead them, you could get a party like that? I couldn't see attending Parliament in police uniforms though, outside of a one-time political stunt that would no doubt attract huge criticism.

A country in Asia, Latin America, or Africa too with a political system conducive to smaller parties might work. I'm thinking of a Duterte-type figure but with far more links to the police. With their base in the police force, they criticise corruption, crime (drug trafficking/drug abuse, etc.), and how the country needs more police and better paid police to save the public from the crime wave. As an opposition party, they'd emphasise cleaning up corruption and use their background in the police force as proof of their clean nature. In power, it would look like Duterte's Philippines. Presumably, the public would have to be very sick of the current political system to vote in an outsider party which has their main power base and many of their leaders being cops.
 
You'd need a country with a political system which is very conducive for small, special interest parties. The Netherlands is a great example, and they literally had a Police Party (Amsterdam Police and Firefighting Party) at one point. The thing is a police party (even if you include the firefighters) seems like too much of a special interest party to gain widespread support. Maybe if you had even more refugees in the Netherlands (or whatever similar European country) AND several high-profile crimes plus some terrorist attacks and found the "police party" a charismatic policeman to lead them, you could get a party like that? I couldn't see attending Parliament in police uniforms though, outside of a one-time political stunt that would no doubt attract huge criticism.

A country in Asia, Latin America, or Africa too with a political system conducive to smaller parties might work. I'm thinking of a Duterte-type figure but with far more links to the police. With their base in the police force, they criticise corruption, crime (drug trafficking/drug abuse, etc.), and how the country needs more police and better paid police to save the public from the crime wave. As an opposition party, they'd emphasise cleaning up corruption and use their background in the police force as proof of their clean nature. In power, it would look like Duterte's Philippines. Presumably, the public would have to be very sick of the current political system to vote in an outsider party which has their main power base and many of their leaders being cops.
I don't think any set up in a government like the Netherlands could really be considered a police state in the sense of OP is referring to because it would have to share too much power with other parties even if it became a relatively popular party. I could see a situation where one of these small island nations who have no army but do have a paramilitary force attached to their police the chief of police staging a coup with their paramilitary force and taking over the country in a kind of military Junta run by the police.
 
I'd say it would be most likely to form in United States but there is no need due to the disproportionate amount of influence American police unions have in areas of policy that impact them. If one party doesn't give them what they want they can always line up behind the other so there's no need for them to spearhead a police-dominated party.

Honestly this also sounds like you'd be talking that's a lot closer to something fascist or right wing authoritarian than center right. Making the police and law enforcement as central to the party identity is one that feels much closer to that milieu than something of the more milquetoast center-right.
 

Md139115

Banned
Putting my two cents in as the son of a police union leader:

1. Historically, in America, most police officers would not have seen the need for a separate party as they could play one off of the other.

2. Between 2006 and 2016, there would have been a heck of a lot of police officers who would be really interested in this sort of thing here in America, due to the belief that the Republicans are coming after their pensions (which they usually are) and the Democrats are rapidly becoming an anti-police party (BLM, ACLU, strident condemnations every time an African-American gets shot, etc).

3. In America at least, this isn't likely to become a far-right or neo-facist party. The reason is that police are people, and unusually community-minded people as well. I almost expect such a party to have a more fiscally liberal policy with generous benefits and welfare, as well as more active anti-poverty measures. Then again, as people, I expect there to be a range of opinions on this platform and a very tense struggle between more liberal-minded and more conservative-minded officers.

4. This party will be an abject, total failure. The reason being that police officers absolutely, utterly stink at communicating their viewpoints about the world. Part of the problem is social; police officer generally hang out with other police officers and their families, not really with anyone else. This tends to create a confirmation bias where they assume that everyone is familiar with the issues police face and those that don't are idiots. The few police officers that do rise above this to become spokesmen tend to be very distinct individuals who crave attention, leading them to usually not be all that respected among the rank-and-file.

5. There's no need for a separate party right now (post-2016) in many police officers minds, because (and forgive me for veering into chat territory here) they generally have a very high degree of support for the current occupant of the Oval Office...
 
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