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Find sources: "Shadow government" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The term shadow government has two distinct uses with entirely different meanings. The first refers to a government-in-waiting composed of members of the opposition party in a parliamentary chamber such as the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. In this example the Shadow Cabinet 'opposes' by means of dialectical debate and argument the government in power.
In its other use the phrase refers to what is sometimes called "the secret government" or "the invisible government" , an idea based on the notion that real and actual political power does not reside with publicly elected representatives (for example the United States Congress or the UK Cabinet) but with private individuals who are exercising power behind the scenes beyond the scrutiny of democratic institutions. According to this belief the official elected government is in reality subservient to the shadow government who are the true executive power.
In a parliamentary system, the largest opposition party often refers to itself as a shadow government and, if it is sufficiently large, it may also have a Shadow Cabinet in which top opposition leaders shadow the policies and actions of the corresponding cabinet ministers. They are prepared to assume the respective ministries of responsibility should their party come to power in an election. For example, in Britain the largest opposition party's defence spokesman might refer to themselves as the Shadow Defence Secretary. Smaller parties may also have spokespeople, but these do not generally use shadow names.
It is also used as a somewhat pejorative term to denote a government that takes over in the event of a disaster. Guerrillas sometimes have equivalent structures to the present government in hopes that when the guerrilla-group overthrows the present government, the guerrilla-forces will more easily be able to transition from militaristtoadministrative capacity. Also, the term "shadow government" can be used loosely to refer to a guerrilla-force that controls and administers the majority of the physical area of a country, rendering the official national government significantly less able to administer its policies.
In nations with less apparent strife, several safeguards are in place in the event of a disaster strong enough to disrupt the functioning of the government. The United States has Continuity of Operations Plan, Continuity of Government and the presidential line of succession plans.
The tasks and objectives of Operation Gladio varied from country to country but in many countries the 'stay-behind' army consisted of a pre-planned cabinet to rule the country in an interim fashion if the country were invaded by Warsaw Pact states, either in-country or in exile.
In the United Kingdom the Civil Contingencies Secretariat is responsible for planning for government continuity in the event of a catastrophe. None of these safeguards is itself a "shadow government", but they provide, at least in theory, a blueprint for what to do if the governmental structure collapses.
Conspiracy-oriented literature postulates the existence of a secret government who are the true power behind the apparent government. Examples of such literature include works by Dan Smoot, William Guy Carr, Jim Marrs, Gary Allen, Des Griffin, David Icke and John Coleman. Also popularizing the idea was the hit US television show, The X-Files.
In his novel Coningsby, Benjamin Disraeli stated that "The world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes". One definition of a shadow government is a "secret government within the government". This secret government is the "real" government that controls the legitimate and visible government's agenda. The network of people constituting this secret government are bound by some common agenda known only to each other and/or the people they represent. The agenda may be that of a secret society who have infiltrated the government (examples include Freemasons, Skull and Bones men or Illuminatists). In this case the agenda of the network is known only to those members who are bound by an oath of secrecy.
On the other hand members of the secret government may represent or be agents for groups such as the Council on Foreign Relations, The Royal Institute for International Affairs, The Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberg group, CIA and MI6 in co-operation with international banks and financial institutions.
The shadow government is also considered by popular authors to be behind black budget projects and covert operations.
One of the most popular conspiracy theories about a shadow government among ideologues of the antisemitic far-right is the notion of a "Zionist Occupation Government".
