1. Absence of government; lawlessness.
2. A sociopolitical theory holding that the only legitimate form of government is one under which individuals govern themselves voluntarily, free from any collective power structure enforcing compliance with social order. — anarchic, adj.
criminal anarchy. A doctrine advocating the overthrow of organized government by force or violence, by assas-sinating a head of government, or by some other unlawful act. • Most states have laws limiting speech that incites criminal anarchy. The laws do not apply to abstract philosophical expressions or predictions or like expressions protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Criminal-anarchy statutes (e.g., 18 USCA § 2385) apply only to speech that is calculated to induce forceful and violent activity, such as attempts to incite people to riot, or that otherwise generates some “clear and present danger” that the advocated violent overthrow may be attempted or accomplished. See Gitlow v. New York, 268 U.S. 652, 666, 45 S.Ct. 625, 630 (1925).
