Shadow government
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A shadow government is a "government-in-waiting" that remains in waiting with the intent to take control of the government in response to some event.
In parliamentary governments it is common for the opposition party to have a shadow government in which top leaders of the opposition are prepared to assume certain ministries should the opposition come to power.
It is also used as a somewhat pejorative term to denote a government that takes over in the event of a disaster. Guerrillas sometimes have equivalent structures to the present government in hopes that when the guerrilla group overthrows the present government, the guerrilla forces will more easily be able to transition from militarist to administrative capacity. Also, the term "shadow government" can be used loosely to refer to a guerrilla force that controls and administers the majority of the physical area of a country, rendering the official national government significantly less able to administer its policies. Some consider the current strength of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and the New People's Army to be to this degree.
In nations with less apparent strife, there are several safeguards in place in the event of a disaster strong enough to disrupt the functioning of the government. The United States has a Continuity of Operations Plan and the presidential line of succession plan. In the United Kingdom the Civil Contingencies Secretariat is responsible for planning for government continuity in the event of a catastrophe. None of these safeguards is itself a "shadow government", but they provide, at least in theory, a blueprint for what to do if the governmental structure collapses.
In fictional works
The concept is popular in many books, movies, and other productions that focus on or use as thematic elements conspiracy theories and/or science fiction. Conspiracy theorists define shadow government as a secret government within the government. This secret government is the "real" government that controls the known government's basic course. The members' identities and meeting halls of the secret shadow government are only known by a select few. This secret government is often portrayed as corrupt and having connections to the C.I.A., Illuminati, and Freemasons. It usually knows about and handles weird situations kept secret, such as the New World Order, the Apocalypse, aliens, the Antichrist, demons, human body or soul harvesting, missing persons, experiments on people, etc. The shadow government is often funded by money lost in the government's system, or behind government contract projects that are false fronts.