Approfondimento: Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a form of government in which all societal resources are monopolized by the state in an effort to penetrate and control all aspects of public and private life. This control is facilitated by propaganda and by advances in technology.
Both in theory and practice, totalitarianism is of relatively recent origin. First used to describe the organizational principles of the National Socialist (Nazi) party in Germany, the term gained currency in political analysis after World War II. Older concepts, such as DICTATORSHIP and DESPOTISM, were deemed inadequate by Western social scientists to describe this modern phenomenon.
Principal Features
Totalitarian regimes are characterized by distinctive types of ideology and organization. Totalitarian ideologies reject existing society as corrupt, immoral, and beyond reform, project an alternative society in which these wrongs are to be redressed, and provide plans and programs for realizing the alternative order. These ideologies, supported by propaganda campaigns, demand total conformity on the part of the people.
Totalitarian forms of organization enforce this demand for conformity. Totalitarian societies are rigid hierarchies dominated by one political party and usually by a single leader. The party penetrates the entire country through regional, provincial, local, and "primary" (party-cell) organization. Youth, professional, cultural, and sports groups supplement the party's political control. A paramilitary secret police ensures compliance. Information and ideas are effectively organized through the control of television, radio, the press, and education at all levels.
In short, totalitarian regimes seek to dominate all aspects of national life. In this respect totalitarianism differs from older concepts of dictatorship or tyranny, which seek limited--typically political--control. In addition, totalitarian regimes mobilize and make use of mass political participation, whereas dictatorships seek only pacified and submissive populations. Finally, totalitarian regimes seek the complete reconstruction of the individual and society; dictatorships attempt simply to rule over the individual and society.
Types of Totalitarianism
Two types of totalitarianism may be distinguished: NAZISM and FASCISM on the right and COMMUNISM on the left. While sharing the ideological and organizational features discussed above, the two differ in important respects. Right totalitarian movements, such as the Nazi party in Germany and the Fascists in Italy, have drawn their popular support mainly from middle classes seeking to maintain the status quo and advance their own social position. Left totalitarianism, such as that of the former USSR, relies instead on a lower or working class seeking to eliminate, not preserve, class distinctions. Right totalitarianism has been outspokenly racist and elitist, whereas, in theory, left totalitarianism has not. Right totalitarianism, unlike its leftist counterpart, rests on a cult of the hero, although in practice the cults of Joseph STALIN and MAO ZEDONG (MAO TSE-TUNG) were as pronounced as those of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Moreover, right totalitarianism has supported and enforced the private ownership of industrial wealth. A distinguishing feature of Soviet communism, by contrast, was the collective ownership of such capital.
A final difference lies in the role of terror and violence in the two types of totalitarian societies. Left totalitarianism has arisen in relatively undeveloped countries through the unleashing of massive revolutionary violence and terror and the elimination of all opponents--political, social, military, economic--in short order. Terror and violence tended to level off or decline after these regimes consolidated their power. By contrast, right totalitarian regimes (particularly the Nazis), arising in relatively advanced societies, have relied on the support of traditional elites to attain power. The old elites, coexisting in a subordinate role with the new, have continued to pose a challenge and threat. Escalating levels of terror and violence resulting from such struggles contributed to the eventual collapse of the two major right totalitarian regimes, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The Communist governments in Eastern Europe and the former USSR, by contrast, endured periodic reforms leading to democratic transformation.
Mostafa Rejai
Bibliography: Arendt, Hannah, The Origins of Totalitarianism, rev. ed. (1966; repr. 1983); Aron, Raymond, intro. by Roy Pierce, Democracy and Totalitarianism (1990); Bracher, Karl Dietrich, The German Dictatorship: The Origin, Structure and Effects of National Socialism, trans. by Jean Steinberg (1970); Friedrich, Carl J., and Brzezinski, Zbigniew, Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy, 2d ed. (1965); Germino, D. L., The Italian Fascist Party in Power: A Study of Totalitarian Rule (1959; repr. 1971); Gregor, J. A., The Ideology of Fascism (1969); Hayek, Friedrich, The Road to Serfdom (1944); Radel, Lucien, Roots of Totalitarianism (1975); Soper, Steven P., Totalitarianism: A Conceptual Approach (1985); Talmon, J. A., The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy, rev. ed. (1960; repr. 1985).
(da: Grolier Electronic Publishing)
Both in theory and practice, totalitarianism is of relatively recent origin. First used to describe the organizational principles of the National Socialist (Nazi) party in Germany, the term gained currency in political analysis after World War II. Older concepts, such as DICTATORSHIP and DESPOTISM, were deemed inadequate by Western social scientists to describe this modern phenomenon.
Principal Features
Totalitarian regimes are characterized by distinctive types of ideology and organization. Totalitarian ideologies reject existing society as corrupt, immoral, and beyond reform, project an alternative society in which these wrongs are to be redressed, and provide plans and programs for realizing the alternative order. These ideologies, supported by propaganda campaigns, demand total conformity on the part of the people.
Totalitarian forms of organization enforce this demand for conformity. Totalitarian societies are rigid hierarchies dominated by one political party and usually by a single leader. The party penetrates the entire country through regional, provincial, local, and "primary" (party-cell) organization. Youth, professional, cultural, and sports groups supplement the party's political control. A paramilitary secret police ensures compliance. Information and ideas are effectively organized through the control of television, radio, the press, and education at all levels.
In short, totalitarian regimes seek to dominate all aspects of national life. In this respect totalitarianism differs from older concepts of dictatorship or tyranny, which seek limited--typically political--control. In addition, totalitarian regimes mobilize and make use of mass political participation, whereas dictatorships seek only pacified and submissive populations. Finally, totalitarian regimes seek the complete reconstruction of the individual and society; dictatorships attempt simply to rule over the individual and society.
Types of Totalitarianism
Two types of totalitarianism may be distinguished: NAZISM and FASCISM on the right and COMMUNISM on the left. While sharing the ideological and organizational features discussed above, the two differ in important respects. Right totalitarian movements, such as the Nazi party in Germany and the Fascists in Italy, have drawn their popular support mainly from middle classes seeking to maintain the status quo and advance their own social position. Left totalitarianism, such as that of the former USSR, relies instead on a lower or working class seeking to eliminate, not preserve, class distinctions. Right totalitarianism has been outspokenly racist and elitist, whereas, in theory, left totalitarianism has not. Right totalitarianism, unlike its leftist counterpart, rests on a cult of the hero, although in practice the cults of Joseph STALIN and MAO ZEDONG (MAO TSE-TUNG) were as pronounced as those of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Moreover, right totalitarianism has supported and enforced the private ownership of industrial wealth. A distinguishing feature of Soviet communism, by contrast, was the collective ownership of such capital.
A final difference lies in the role of terror and violence in the two types of totalitarian societies. Left totalitarianism has arisen in relatively undeveloped countries through the unleashing of massive revolutionary violence and terror and the elimination of all opponents--political, social, military, economic--in short order. Terror and violence tended to level off or decline after these regimes consolidated their power. By contrast, right totalitarian regimes (particularly the Nazis), arising in relatively advanced societies, have relied on the support of traditional elites to attain power. The old elites, coexisting in a subordinate role with the new, have continued to pose a challenge and threat. Escalating levels of terror and violence resulting from such struggles contributed to the eventual collapse of the two major right totalitarian regimes, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The Communist governments in Eastern Europe and the former USSR, by contrast, endured periodic reforms leading to democratic transformation.
Mostafa Rejai
Bibliography: Arendt, Hannah, The Origins of Totalitarianism, rev. ed. (1966; repr. 1983); Aron, Raymond, intro. by Roy Pierce, Democracy and Totalitarianism (1990); Bracher, Karl Dietrich, The German Dictatorship: The Origin, Structure and Effects of National Socialism, trans. by Jean Steinberg (1970); Friedrich, Carl J., and Brzezinski, Zbigniew, Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy, 2d ed. (1965); Germino, D. L., The Italian Fascist Party in Power: A Study of Totalitarian Rule (1959; repr. 1971); Gregor, J. A., The Ideology of Fascism (1969); Hayek, Friedrich, The Road to Serfdom (1944); Radel, Lucien, Roots of Totalitarianism (1975); Soper, Steven P., Totalitarianism: A Conceptual Approach (1985); Talmon, J. A., The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy, rev. ed. (1960; repr. 1985).
(da: Grolier Electronic Publishing)
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posted by RTD at 17:01
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