One quasi specter regime that came to mind is Islam in general, specifically the fear of Shariah Law. As I recall in my childhood watching Fox News, the political-cultural threat of Islamic domination was used to legitimate both liberal civil society and democracy. The deployment of Islamic rule as a threat to democracy had a childlike ring to it; awesome in its level of repugnance but correspondingly unbelievable in its viability; which is probably why the rhetoric came off like the trailer to a summer blockbuster.