Table 1.

Normal States and Exceptional Regimes (Source: based on Poulantzas 1974, 1976, 1978)

Normal States	Exceptional Regimes
Liberal democracy with universal suffrage and formally free elections	Elections are suspended (except for plebiscites and referenda)
Power is transferred between parties and/or governments in a stable way in line with rule of law	No legal regulation of power transfer (“might is right”, state of exception, state of siege)
Pluralistic series of ideological apparatuses that operate relatively independently of the state	Ideological apparatuses are integrated into the official state to legitimate its enhanced power
Separation of powers	Concentration of powers
Power circulates organically, which facilitates a flexible reorganization of power	These regimes congeal balance of forces existing at the time that an exceptional regime is introduced