Chapotraphouse

In this case: Institutions of power in the intelligence, military, foreign relations, etc. People and groups, institutions and interests ensconced in elephantine bureaucracies that actually make things happen and are kind of a backstop to power. They're the violence that doesn't answer to the state as liberals presume they should, they do obey orders of the state in so far as the state's interests are theirs but also slow-walk, sabotage them, avoid them, go around them, and if really necessary disobey them directly if they deem it necessary. They're the people who will kill a sitting president, the people who smuggle drugs in for off the books revenues to use on operations without pesky congressional or executive branch oversight. They are the inertia, the institutional guarantee against changing of whims among the elected congress-critters and changing seats in the white house and even in appointed offices like heads of say the CIA, FBI, joint chiefs, etc.

The deep state is everyone from career CIA, NSA, military, foreign policy managers and mid-level agents and personnel who work on the clock completely above board and who can resist any dramatic changes simply by continuing to pursue what has been deemed better, to pursue what they believe and have been led to believe is the right course to shadowy groups of intelligence adjacent types who in addition to funding in theory subject to audit in the intelligence black hole funding bag also have access to off the books funds, the types who kill people and break laws and rules, who answer to no elected persons and are in every way that matters immune to consequences save from among their own. They do things like MKUltra, run Epstein child trafficking rings to traffic victims for compromising material to leverage against government and business leaders and to gain their favor so they don't even have to use pressure.

This sprawling apparatus both the submerged "deep" parts and visible parts is why those boat dealers were able to waltz into congress on Jan 6th without resistance but a confused two people in an SUV who took the wrong highway exit to the NSA and panicked, running the checkpoints instead of stopping were shot dead with automatic weapons fire before they got anywhere close to it without asking further questions.

The deep state is actually just the state. There are close to 23 million us government employees, and who knows how many more private consultants and government contractors working for the government. Anyone who has ever managed a group of people knows that making people what you want to do is a herculean task, even if you are just managing 5 people.

Class societies obsessed with great man theory attribute super natural creative abilities to leaders and "geniuses".