ABSTRACT
‘Repression’ points to any system of rigid asymmetrical power relations; ‘repressive violence’ relates to one of the methods of self-preservation of such a system, namely the organized use of physical force. Human history is full of repression and the use of physical methods within repressive systems. Democratic theory refers to the instruments and ‘nature’ of any political system – and so do theories of repression. Repression might take place – and does take place – in many countries in spite of the presence of a well-articulated system of law. However, the presence of such a system may be helpful when attacking evident violations of it, just as the absence of these rules of law may stimulate repression. In the same way the systematic use of repressive violence can be viewed as a phase in a gradually escalating process of repression. Repressive practices have almost exclusively been associated with the first societal model and there are many obvious reasons for it.
