(from Greek: ἀναρχία anarchía,
"without ruler") may refer to any of the
• "No rulership or enforced authority." 
• "Absence of government; a state of
lawlessness due to the absence or
inefficiency of the supreme power;
• "A social state in which there is no
governing person or group of persons, but
each individual has absolute liberty
(without the implication of disorder)."
• "Absence or non-recognition of authority
and order in any given sphere."
• A society free from coercive authority of
any kind is the goal of proponents of the
political philosophy of anarchism
• Independent from rule or authority.
• Legitimacy of a state is gained through
consent, not through coercion.
Anarchy after the Col-
lapse of a State
This article is part of the
List of forms of
• Communist state
• Consociational state
• Military junta
• Minarchism/Night Watchman
• Puppet state
• Socialist state
English Civil War
The tumult of the English Civil War led the
term to be taken up in political philosophy.
Anarchy was one of the issues at the Putney
Debates of 1647:
Thomas Rainsborough: I shall blow up
your buildings a little more and be less
open with you than I was before. I wish
we all truly wanted to change this
cesspool we live in