Emergency Powers: Background information when reading Prophet Song

In Paul Lynch's novel Prophet Song, the enactment of an Emergency Powers Act sets in motion a sequence of destabilizing events that will eventually lead to societal dissolution and civil war. The Act provides the legal justification for an authoritarian government, through its newly formed secret police force and military, to bypass normal protections and institute human rights violations against its own citizens under the guise of national security measures. Throughout the novel, characters question how it is possible that an elected government in a democratic country such as Ireland can ignore the constitution in hammering its crushing new restrictions into place.

American readers may also find themselves reflecting on how realistic such a nightmarish vision might be in the United States. What exactly are emergency powers, and how are they activated? How are governments meant to utilize these powers? Would it ever be possible in America for a ruling party to misuse this tool ...