On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti The Jackpod: America as a dual state
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Jan 24, 2026 Jack Beatty, a longtime analyst who links history, literature, and politics, explores Ernst Frankel's dual-state idea. He contrasts the everyday normative state with a prerogative state of arbitrary force. Short, sharp takes examine court uses, immigration enforcement parallels, rhetoric signaling exclusion, and how normal routines can veil repression.
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The Dual State Framework
- Ernst Fraenkel's 'dual state' splits normal legal life from a lawless prerogative apparatus that can intrude arbitrarily.
- Jack Beatty argues this framework helps explain modern U.S. tensions where repressive forces operate alongside everyday institutions.
Courts Used As Traps
- Fraenkel observed Gestapo agents grabbing people as they left ordinary court proceedings.
- Jack Beatty parallels that with ICE arresting asylum seekers after they appear in immigration courts.
ICE As A Prerogative Force
- Beatty likens expanded ICE tactics and recruitment to the instruments of a prerogative state, noting extremist-coded recruitment material.
- He warns the agency's growth and rhetoric signal a fusion of repression with normal state functions.
