Abstract

The idea of a state of emergency connotes more than that there is an exceptional political situation which requires an urgent response, one different in nature from normal methods of dealing with political problems. The ‘state’ part of the idea indicates the legally performative, illocutionary nature of the declaration of a state of emergency. A state of emergency is created by the properly formulated speech act of an official with authority to do so. Officials always claim that the declaration responds accurately to the reality of an exceptional situation. But the declaration is supposed to create a new normative order in which governments may act in ways that in ordinary times would be illegal. Thus the idea of a state of emergency is a legal, even constitutional idea. As such, it is strange to the point of paradox.