Shadow government

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A shadow government is a "government-in-waiting" that remains in waiting with the intention of taking control of a government in response to some event.

Politics

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 militarist to administrative 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.

Alternative definitions

The concept is popular in many books, movies, and other productions of political fiction that focus on or use as thematic elements conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theorists define shadow government as a secret government within the government. This secret government is the "real" government that controls the known government's basic course. The members' identities and meeting-halls of the secret shadow government are known by only a select few.

This secret government is often portrayed as corrupt and having connections to the CIA, the Italian Mafia, Illuminati, and Freemasons. It usually knows about and handles weird situations that are kept secret, such as evidence of the New World Order, the Apocalypse, aliens, the Antichrist, demons, human body- or soul harvesting, missing persons, experiments on people, etc. The shadow government is often funded by money that has been purposely "misplaced" within the government's system, or concealed behind government-contract projects that are false fronts for other undertakings.

One of the most popular manifestations of the shadow government is Majestic 12, figuring prominently in both conspiracy literature and works of conspiracy fiction, and often tied in with the Roswell UFO Incident of 1947.

See also

• Exilarchy
• Underground government
• Mafia
• Cabal
• Continuity of government
• Government in exile
• Iran Contra Scandal
• National Program Office
• Shadow Cabinet
• Synarchism

External links

• Barton Gellman and Susan Schmidt with contribution from Mary Lou White, "Shadow Government Is at Work in Secret: After Attacks, Bush Ordered 100 Officials to Bunkers Away From Capital to Ensure Federal Survival," Washington Post, March 1, 2002; Page A01.
• Spencer S. Hsu, "Bush Changes Continuity Plan: Administration, Not DHS, Would Run Shadow Government," Washington Post, May 10, 2007; Page A12.
• The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis A PBS Documentary Transcript
• The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis A PBS Documentary Video
• The Shadow Government: Identification and Analysis
• Banking Cartel cause of humanity's owes
• Youtube video Money, Banking and Federal Reserve