At least in the US – the deep state concept goes back to Kemalist Turkey – the term “deep state” refers to career government officials – particularly those in military, diplomatic, intelligence, and law enforcement positions – and their private sector allies (many of whom hop in and out of government themselves) who pursue their own agendas regardless of who is nominally in control. The basic idea is that while the American people may vote for Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives, the deep state remains a constant and doesn’t bend much (if at all).
When Eisenhower warned of the “military-industrial complex” in his farewell speech to the nation in 1961, he was essentially warning of a form of a deep state, even though he didn’t use those words. The deep state was also criticized throughout the Cold War, usually by the left, in pointing out actions committed by the State Department, Defense Department, and CIA, oftentimes with elected officials having little to no knowledge until long after the fact. The term “deep state” really began being used in earnest to describe the tightened, and more connected, security state that was enacted after the 9–11 terrorist attacks, and again, was typically a left-wing criticism.
However, after the election of Donald Trump in 2016, the deep state initially was viewed as heroic by some on the left, and then, as right-wing criticism of unelected officials and big business attempting to thwart the agenda of the elected president increased, the official narrative became that the deep state didn’t exist, and was just a conspiracy theory peddled by kooks. Thus, in roughly a decade, the deep state had, at least in the mainstream media, gone from being real and bad to the left to real but a good thing for the left (and bad for the right) to imaginary and the result of people sitting at home and watching too much FOX News.
Certainly, people who want to talk about deep states or shadow governments can get into tinfoil hat territory pretty quickly. But that being said, it’s also true that the federal government is enormous in size, as is the group of people who depend upon it for business, there is often inadequate oversight over what these folks are doing, and people are self-interested and will often protect their interests/turf over what is best for the country. Thus, while reasonable people can disagree over precise definitions and the extent of the problem, the deep state is something that actually exists.
Prepper1cense 