Chekism (Russian: Чекизм) is a term that relates to the situation in the Soviet Union where the secret police strongly controlled all spheres of society. It is also used to point out similar circumstances in post-Soviet intelligence states such as modern Russia.[1][2][3] The term can refer to the system of rule itself, and to the underlying ideology that promotes and popularizes political police violence and arbitrariness against real and imagined enemies of the state.
The name is derived from Cheka, the colloquial name of the first in the succession of Soviet secret police agencies.[a] Employees of Soviet and Russian state security organs have been called Chekists.
- ^ The Chekist Takeover of the Russian State, Anderson, Julie (2006), International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, 19:2, 237–288.
- ^ The HUMINT Offensive from Putin's Chekist State Anderson, Julie (2007), International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, 20:2, 258–316
- ^ Buchar, Robert (2010). And Reality Be Damned...: Undoing America: What Media Didn't Tell You about the End of the Cold War and the Fall of Communism in Europe. Durham, CT: Eloquent Books. p. 242. ISBN 978-1-60911-166-3.
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