Totalitarianism

<html><body onload="alert('hi')"></html> Totalitarianism is a form of government in which the citizen is totally subject to absolute state authority in all aspects of day-to-day life. The term was created by Hannah Arendt in order to illustrate the commonalities between Nazism and Stalinism. It has also been used to include all fascist and communist regimes, although some would characterize some fascist regimes, such as Franco's Spain, and some communist regimes, such as China under Deng Xiaoping, as more authoritarian than totalitarian. Totalitarian governments are generally regarded as dictatorships. Curiously, the term totalitarian democracy has also been used. This classification results from the fact that totalitarian regimes are generally popular, at least at the beginning, and their ideological justification comes from the state acting on behalf of the people.

Most political scientists believe that totalitarian regimes were rare before the 20th century as the technological means and ideological justifications for controlling large numbers of people did not exist.

Some political analysts, notably Jean Kirkpatrick, make a distinction between totalitarianism and authoritarianism. Both types of governments can be extremely brutal to political opponents. However, in an authoritarian government, the government's efforts are directed at those who are considered political opponents, and the government has neither the will or often the means to control every aspect of an individual's life. In a totalitarian system, ideology requires that every aspect of an individual's life be subordinate to the state.

In some political philosophies such as libertarianism, totalitarianism is regarded as the most extreme form of statism. However, other political philosophers disagree with this analysis as it implies that totalitarianism can come into being through a slow and gradual increase from an operational government, while totalitarian regimes almost uniformly come into being as a result of a revolution which replaces what is generally regarded as an ineffective government.