History Main / OneNationUnderCopyright

* The world in the 2010 ''Film/{{Tekken}}'' movie is divided into eight massive conglomerates.

* Series/BetterOffTed mentions this.

* The old [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo_Free_State Congo Free State]]. The people of Belgium were adamantly ''against'' joining the imperialism game, so King Leopold pulled some strings to have the whole thing done as a private enterprise initiative, turning the land into private grounds with a captive workforce that took in chains, ammo and mercenaries and churned out ivory, rubber, and corpses. It eventually got so bad that the Belgian government officially nationalized the Congo, bringing them into the colonial system anyway. One estimate has it that the Congolese population was reduced by half in about twenty years.

* This idea is often used by "Reichsbürger" (literally "realm citizens") against the actual state of Germany to dismiss its legal existence. They argue that the entire German state post-1945 is invalid since, to them, it is merely a giant corporation, and every German citizen ([[{{Hypocrite}} except them of course]]) is and can only be "personnel" of that corporation. There are many different types, and almost all of them claim to represent any of a multitude of fake German exile governments who, according to them, are clearly the real and lawful rulers of the German state (this whole thing immediately falls apart by the mere fact that there are ''multiple'' exile governments all claiming rule against each other). Some of them even try to sell fake passports to gullible people, which naturally are not legally recognized by anyone, anywhere.

** Similar odd claims are made by the American "sovereign citizens", and fraudulent "states" have also been set up there, which also issue "passports" etc.
** In the new Russia, meanwhile, the "USSR citizens" also promote the notion that Russian Federation is but a commercial organzation, that the dissolution of USSR was illegitimate, and claim to be the true descendants of the Soviet authorities. Similar to their German and American counterparts, they also issue pseudo-[=IDs=] for a "fee" and refuse to pay their bills and fines on frivolous claims. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Slavic_Forces_of_Russia Here's the most famous one.]]

* The Reedy Creek Improvement District, the site of [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Walt Disney World]], is the closest thing to this trope that exists in the United States. The power of the state of UsefulNotes/{{Florida}} amounts to the collection of property taxes and little else [[note]]In addition to paying its state taxes, Florida exercises authority to inspect all elevators on Disney Property (though Tower of Terror likely doesn't count as an elevator for this purpose, as it functions like an elevator that should be shut down for safety violations). Disney World security also do not have law enforcement authority and will rely on county police. Disney security are allowed to shut down roads for events or detain shoplifters but cannot issue tickets. If the cops aren't called on you, the worst Disney can do is ban you from the property.)[[/note]]; the head of Florida's Bureau of Fair Rides Inspection admitted that he lacked the authority to even [[http://www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-cia-helped-disney-conquer-florida enforce ride safety laws]]. Beyond that, the two towns Creator/{{Disney}} created to serve as the municipal government for the resort, Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, exist mainly to provide municipal bonds and friendly regulations, their combined population of about sixty hand-picked residents comprised entirely of Disney employees.
** Despite the inability of the Inspector to do his job at Disney World, Reedy Creek Improvement District follows what's known as "The EPCOT Building Code" for all construction projects (including the ride's sturctures). "The EPCOT Building Code" is actually stricter than Floridan and Orlando building codes and ordinances.
* This idea is often used by "Reichsbürger" (literally "realm citizens") against the actual state of Germany to dismiss its legal existence. They argue that the entire German state post 1945 is invalid since, to them, it is merely a giant corporation, and every German citizen ([[{{Hypocrite}} except them of course]]) is and can only be "personnel" of that corporation. There are many different types, and almost all of them claim to represent any of a multitude of fake German exile governments who, according to them, are clearly the real and lawful rulers of the German state (this whole thing immediately falls apart by the mere fact that there are ''multiple'' exile governments all claiming rule against each other). Some of them even try to sell fake passports to gullible people, which naturally are not legally recognized by anyone, anywhere.

* ''VideoGame/StarControlII'''s Druuge of the Persei system take this trope to a ridiculous extent: The Crimson Corporation is not only a government substitute, but owns all the natural resources and inhabitants as well. Druuge who quit (or are fired from) the corporation are instantly found guilty of stealing "company property" (air) and are sentenced to death. Druuge who are no longer useful, cannot work, or are in debt are tossed into the reactors of the nearest power station to be used as fuel. Retirees can breathe at a reduced rate. Oh, and their religion basically amounts to a ''contract'' with their god, where they promise worship and conversion in exchange for a relatively static and good way of life and "at least one miracle".

* Activision's ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}: Call To Power'' games (a sub-series made in Meier's absence) has a futuristic form of government called "Corporate Republic." In-game history noted that the gradual collapse of modern governments forced corporations to step in and maintain vital infrastructure and services or risk major losses.

** ''VideoGame/PandoraFirstContact'', the other SpiritualSuccessor, has the Noxium Corporation, which has a monopoly on [[AsteroidMiners Asteroid Mining]] in the Solar System and brings that attitude to Pandora.

** ''Frontier''. the sequel, also had these. They varied from reasonably civilised places to pirate infested systems which were happy to trade slaves and battlefield weapons to anyone visiting.

** Since the death of [[OnlySaneMan Otro Gariushi]] and the recapture of Caldari Prime, the glue holding the State together has increasingly become [[PuttingOnTheReich Tibus Heth and his underlings.]]
* With the possible exception of ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore 2'' and its successor, Another Age, the world is dominated not by one, but multiple corporate states.

* The little-mentioned Kel-Morian Combine in ''VideoGame/{{Starcraft}}'' is controlled by a bunch of mining guilds. The Combine worlds were annexed by the Confederacy (except for Moria itself, who joined up with the Dominion upon its formation) some years before the first game, but broke away from the Dominion following the Brood War. Rory Swann, the ''Hyperion's'' engineer, is from a former Combine world; he lost his arm in a rebellion against them.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bioshock}}'': What Rapture ended up becoming. Turns out the man who built it, a staunch anarcho-capitalist who claimed to love personal liberty and free enterprise and thought of the poor and less fortunate as "parasites", was actually very quick to toss his ideals aside when someone started to out-compete ''his'' business; his solution, of course, was to [[SecretPolice forcibly]] seize all the businesses that got too profitable for their own good. Thanks Andrew Ryan, [[{{Hypocrite}} you cheap bastard]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' a possible government Civic for oligarchies is "Corporate Dominion", with the description stating that your empire is a MegaCorp that has supplanted the traditional state. A DLC added actual Corporate star empires, which have their own set of civics.

* This is essentially the premise of Remy's ''Northern Corporate Dominion'' universe, although from the point of view of the slaves.
* The [[AllThereInTheManual backstory]] to ''Literature/PayMeBug'' had the Free Trade [[RoyalMess Baronies]] starting life as this. That was so long ago that they've since evolved into essentially standard governments, but there are still a few throwbacks to their history.
* Oligopolmart in ''Letsplay/LetsRambleWithRae'' MO is to buy entire planets.

* ''{{TabletopGame/Cyberpunk}}'': The NUSA. Maybe. It's complicated. The [[FallenStatesOfAmerica rump USA that only really controlled the eastern seaboard]] attempted to nationalize [[MegaCorp Militech]] in the aftermath of the Fourth Corporate War, when the corporation was still weak. However, the corporation turned out to be TooSpicyForYogSothoth, and managed to insert a large number of people whose primary loyalty was to the corporation in key positions in the US federal government and civil service. The New United States of America is on the rise, but no-one on the outside is quite sure whether it's the elected officials or the Militech Board of Directors calling the shots, or if such a distinction can be meaningfully made in the first place.

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': As an AfterTheEnd CyberPunk {{Dystopia}}, the government in the setting is TheFederation of various MegaCorp. There are officially five of them in charge of the Corporate Government at any given time, and it’s said that which five those are shifts over time due to shifts in power. Kugamayama City is a CompanyTown for Sakashita Heavy Industries, who also manage the FictionalCurrency aurum. Kugamayama with its UrbanSegregation is designed for a DungeonBasedEconomy of reverse-engineering LostTechnology from NeglectfulPrecursors known as The Old World to whom monsters are actually ancient security systems. The government takes an extremely harsh view on debt (IndenturedServitude is common, and the default punishment for crossing them). They treat slum dwellers as CannonFodder and serve them food that's radioactive or MysteryMeat filled with harmful {{Nanomachines}} to test if they’re safe to sell. And they are frequently engaging in one GovernmentConspiracy after another, including the frequent FalseFlagOperation of each MegaCorp attacking [[WeAreStrugglingTogether one another.]]
* ''LightNovel/ShangriLa'': The Atlas Corporation, post-worldwide carbon tax, has effectively usurped control of Japan from the government by monopolizing carbon. They run the nation through Atlas Tower while forcing the poor people to struggle in the jungles of the ruined Japan, and the Prime Minister is basically a puppet. Ryoko Naruse, the CEO, drops the charade about halfway through when she takes the position of Prime Minister from him with no election, while still keeping her ownership of the company, and the people are powerless to stop the blatant conflict-of-interest.

* ''{{TabletopGame/Cyberpunk}}'': The NUSA. Maybe. It's complicated. The [[FallenStatesOfAmerica rump USA that only really controlled the eastern seaboard]] attempted to nationalize [[MegaCorp Militech]] in the aftermath of the Fourth Corporate War, when the corporation was still weak. However, the corporation turned out to be TooSpicyForYogSothoth, and managed to insert a large number of people whose primary loyalty was to the corporation in key positions in the US federal government and civil service. The New United States of America is on the rise, but no-one on the outside is quite sure whether it's the elected officials or the Militech Board of Directors calling the shots, or if such a distinction can be meaningfully made at all.

* ''{{TabletopGame/Cyberpunk}}'': The NUSA. Maybe. It's complicated. The [[FallenStatesOfAmerica rump USA that only really controlled the eastern seaboard]] attempted to nationalize [[MegaCorp Militech]] in the aftermath of the Fourth Corporate War, when the corporation was still weak. However, the corporation turned out to be TooSpicyForYogSothoth, and managed to insert a large number of people whose primary loyalty was to the corporation in key positions in the US federal government and civil service. The New United States of America is on the rise, but no-one on the outside is quite sure whether the elected officials or the Militech Board of Directors is calling the shots, or if such a distinction can be meaningfully made.

* In ''Literature/CatchTwentyTwo'', M&M Enterprises is set up as a way for the mess officer, Milo Minderbinder, to bilk the US Government out of quite a lot of money. [[spoiler: He then goes on to make an absolute fortune monopolizing trade in the Mediterranean. Eventually he has a private army and air force, and is paid quite a lot by the Germans to bomb a US air base. Milo was supposed to be tried as a criminal, but all charges were dropped as soon as the brass saw how much money there was in bombing their own men.]] But hey, at least everybody owns a share! The film sums it up quite well when Milo hears about the death of a brother officer [[spoiler: killed by Milo's raid.]]
--->'''Milo Minderbinder:''' [[spoiler:Nately]] died a wealthy man, Yossarian. He had over sixty shares in the syndicate.\\

* The world in the SoBadItsGood ''Film/OverdrawnAtTheMemoryBank'' (as seen on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'') is run by these.

* ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' by Lois Bujold. Jackson's Whole is a territorially interlocked group of conglomerates (The top rank of which are called Great Houses), most of which would range from semi-criminal to outright monstrous amongst the rest of the galaxy, each with different specialties.
* ''The Space Merchants'' (published 1953) by Creator/FrederikPohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth. The transnational advertising corporation the protagonist works for got their start by incorporating the entire country of India.

* In the dystopian novel ''Literature/JenniferGovernment'', not only do corporate states run America, but every citizen takes the last name of their business. The heroine is a government agent; the villain, John Nike, works for Nike, and children take the last names of the corporation that owns their school. One editor writes: "The central point of the novel was that this was where we'd be eventually headed if deregulation continued the way it was going."
* ''The Year of the Comet'' by Creator/JohnChristopher.

** And in ''Literature/{{Friday}}'', the Shipstone {{Megacorp}} has grown so powerful in a [[BalkanizeMe balkanized world]] that the heroine starts to think of them as the only effective government.

---> '''Milo Minderbinder:''' [[spoiler: Nately]] died a wealthy man, Yossarian. He had over sixty shares in the syndicate.
---> '''Yossarian:''' What difference does that make? He's dead.
---> '''Milo Minderbinder:''' Then his family will get it.
---> '''Yossarian:''' He didn't have time to have a family.
---> '''Milo Minderbinder:''' Then his parents will get it.
---> '''Yossarian:''' They don't need it, they're rich.
---> '''Milo Minderbinder:''' Then they'll understand.

* ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdgeCatalyst'': the nation of Cascadia is ruled by an executive board of business owners known as the Conglomerate, made up of thirteen ruling families. Those thirteen businesses run absolutely everything. The populace is placated by the promise that if they work really hard, they can be promoted to better positions, or even (in extraordinary cases) get adopted into one of the families. While this does happen, it's only to an extremely lucky few, and common citizens have essentially no personal freedoms, privacy, or rights.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In [[Webcomic/TheKennyChronicles Ferrets vs. Lemmings]] the ferret government of Dook Island was founded as effectively a company town for Guy King's meat exports business.
* [[http://www.freemarscomic.com/ Free Mars]]: Mars is run by the totalitarian Combined Systems Corporations. The Martian Liberation Front is trying to change that.

* In ''Webcomic/QuantumVibe'' most nation-states have collapsed and "Mercorps" run most of society, even [[PlanetTerra old Terra]] is split between two Mercorps (based in China and Brazil). Pretty much the only government still active is the Lunar Republic, and even that is beholden to Omega-Tek.

* ''VideoGame/SystemShock'': The [=TriOptimum=] Corporation was ''de facto'' in charge of human civilization, until things went [[AIIsACrapshoot horribly]] [[KillEmAll horribly]] [[TheVirus horribly]] [[GoneHorriblyWrong wrong]] in the first game, leading to a revolution, the reinstatement of a representative government, and Tri-Op coming within a hairsbreadth of bankruptcy. The company managed to barely hang on by inventing FasterThanLightTravel.

* This is turned UpToEleven in the series ''[[Music/DougAnthonyAllStars Daas Kapital]]'', where the Shitzu Tonka corporation runs the entire world. Their motto is "Another day of global peace where nothing much happens. No war, no inflation, no violence, no rainforest. That's a Shitsu Tonka day."

* The eponymous city in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' is run by (seemingly immortal) pre-nuclear apocalypse business executive & HowardHughesHomage Mr. House, who describes himself as the territory's "president, CEO, and sole proprietor." House's primary goal is to bring the entire region under his control under an autocratic [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_capitalism state capitalist]] society, but as concerning as that might sound to some he's actually ALighterShadeOfGrey compared to the alternatives.

* The Czerka Corporation from ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', while functioning like a normal mega-corporation in Republic Space, actually has complete control over at least two known planets, Tattooine and Kashyyyk, in the first game.

* The eponymous city in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' is run by a (seemingly immortal) pre-nuclear apocalypse business executive who describes himself as the territory's "president, CEO, and sole proprietor."

* ''LightNovel/ShangriLa'': The Atlas Corporation, post-worldwide carbon tax, has effectively usurped control of Japan from the government by monopolizing carbon. They run the nation through Atlas Tower while forcing the poor people ton struggle in the jungles of the ruined Japan, and the Prime Minister is basically a puppet. Ryoko Naruse, the CEO, drops the charade about halfway through when she takes the position of Prime Minister from him with no election, while still keeping her ownership of the company, and the people are powerless to stop the blatant conflict-of-interest.

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': As an AfterTheEnd CyberPunk {{Dystopia}}, the government in the setting is TheFederation of various MegaCorp. There are officially five of them in charge of the Corporate Government at any given time, and it’s said that which five those are shifts over time due to shifts in power. Kugamayama City is a CompanyTown for Sakashita Heavy Industries, who also manage the FictionalCurrency aurum. Kugamayama with its UrbanSegregation is designed for a DungeonBasedEconomy of reverse-engineering LostTechnology from NeglectfulPrecursors known as The Old World to whom monsters are actually ancient security systems. The government takes an extremely harsh view on debt (IndenturedServitude is common, and the default punishment for crossing them). They treat slum dwellers as CannonFodder and serve them food that’s radioactive or MysteryMeat filled with harmful {{Nanomachines}} to test if they’re safe to sell. And they are frequently engaging in one GovernmentConspiracy after another, including the frequent FalseFlagOperation of each MegaCorp attacking [[WeAreStrugglingTogether one another.]]

->''"Actually, I'm Mayor in name only. The city is really run by Shinra, Inc. My only real job is watching over Shinra's documents. Me! The Mayor! A librarian!"''
-->-- '''Domino, Mayor of Midgar''', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''

->'''Cloud:''' But you're the mayor.\\
'''Domino:''' ''"But you're the mayor"!?'' Does this look like the office of a mayor? I'm a glorified librarian—nothing more! They don't even invite me to their meetings! Sorting records and reports—that's all I do! My hands and fingers have more paper cuts than skin! No one knows my pain—my daily torment! They've made me a pathetic shell of a man.
-->-- ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake''

->'''Cloud:''' But you're the mayor.

->''"Actually, I'm Mayor in name only. The city and everything in it is really run by Shinra, Inc. My only real job is watching over Shinra's documents. Me! The Mayor! A librarian!"''
-->-- '''Mayor of Midgar''', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''

* In ''Franchise/RoboCop'', [[MegaCorp Omni Consumer Products's]] ultimate goal is to turn the movie's gritty and dystopic UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} into "Delta City", effectively a city-state version of this trope, complete with people exercising their representative citizenship rights via the purchase of OCP shares. [[note]]Insert your own pithy comment about the current state of the city and whether OCP could possibly make things any worse at this point.[[/note]]

* ''VideoGame/AceCombat3Electrosphere'' features the start of this in motion, with country-sized corporations General Resources Ltd. and Neucom engaging in a [[spoiler:simulated]] global case of CorporateWarfare.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Spore}}'s space stage, depending on how you ended the other stages, you can achive the "trader" philosphy which changes your planet to [[ProudMerchantRace revolve around captalistic trade]]. You can encounter other planets with the trader philosphy as well.