> To me, 'deep state' implies an illegal conspiracy against democracy. This is a very new, post-Trump/QAnon interpretation. The “deep state” has, for at least

> To me, 'deep state' implies an illegal conspiracy against democracy. This is a very new, post-Trump/QAnon interpretation. The “deep state” has, for at least many decades prior, meant those aspects of government which persist from administration to administration, largely unaffected by those in power. E.g. the CIA keeps doing its thing regardless of whether a Democrat or Republican is in office. Now in as much as these aspects of government are controlled by unelected officials who are willing to work against the elected representatives (think: J Edgar Hoover), that constitutes a shadow government.