1. A repressive state apparatus is a system of government that works in 4 parts, the army, the police, the judiciary system, and the prison system, all in order to undermine the people’s individual liberties, and this is why its called repressive. Examples of this style of government can be seen in all totalitarian regimes, such as the Third Reich, the USSR, and North Korea.
  2. Based on the essay of the same name written by Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser, “ideology and ideological state apparatus” is a social theory that describes a society led by the ideology of the bourgeoisie.
  3. Whereas a repressive state apparatus functions first by repression, then by ideology, an ideological state apparatus functions first by ideology. While an ideological state apparatus is controlled by ideology (the ideology of the ruling class) the power of a repressive state apparatus comes from metric control, is quantifiably intimidating, and functions as a unified entity, unlike ideological state apparatuses.
  4. An example of an ideology is “Deutsche Christen” the term used for the attempt to fuse Christianity with National Socialism in order to further control the german volks (peoples) ideological state and promote core messages of their regime such as anti-Semitism and nationalism. Functioning as a unified entity whose power metric control through violence, this was a repressive state apparatus.

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