The Repressive state Apparatus are institutions put in place that acts in disciplinary ways to get people to act and believe in ways that they believe are in line where these actions are performed through forces or the threat of a force. Althusser calls it repressive because it forces upon someone and doesn’t give them the choice to go against the ideas being put against them. An example of this is the police and the law, where not following the status quo results in repression of freedom through jail time.
Ideological State Apparatus is similar to Repressive however it goes through maintain discipline in non forceful ways . An example of this is teachers in school that discipline students. Schools are one of the institutions responsible for controlling the behaviors and beliefs of a person at a young age when their most impressionable. Schools allow students to learn the status quo from their teachers and as a result, understand the world much easier under the supervision of a trusted official than if they were to just be let into the world unsupervised, with the chance of forming dangerous values.
The difference between Repressive and Ideological state apparatus is that that they are demonstrated. For instance, Repressive takes on a head on approach where people can visibly see the forces that regulate ideas. As mentioned earlier, policing and laws use their powers to force people into their values and punish them for deterring from them. Alternatively, Ideological isn’t as visible seen as is done in a sort of subconscious way. The example of teachers mentioned earlier helps prove this point. Teachers demonstrate to their students ways to act and to think. Although they don’t directly force them to, they influence their students to pick up on these values. The values are subconsciously put into the students brain and they become more in line with the status quo. This also happens in other institutions such as churches which speak on beliefs and pass them on to their followers without the our of force or conversive means.
https://youtu.be/VYOjWnS4cMY?si=jBgjiQ6BbS6JjDU- – This is America by Childish Gambino is a good example of ideology because of the idea that it presents through both its lyrics and music video. It demonstrates the division in America that causes turmoil within America where sides are fighting each other. It displays repressive apparatuses where people of different values use violence to get their way and demonstrates the errors of systems that use this violent forces. A heavy topic in the music is about the systematic racism that exist in America that is carried out by these repressive states of power. Although it is several years old, many of the issues in the music video still hold true and are deeply debated and challenged.