MR. DANIEL LAZAR

Totalitarianism

Definition of Totalitarian Political Systems

Controls every aspect of life, so that there is no private sphere or independent organizations.  The political system penetrates the whole society - dominating religion, family life, economy, education, everything. At the very top is the all-powerful leader or party.

Examples that Fit the Definition Given

No pure types but these regimes had distinctly totalitarian elements:

Nazi Germany, 1933-1945Stalinist Soviet Union, 1924 to 1953China under Mao Zedong, 1949 to 1976Cambodia (Kampuchea) under Khmer Rouge,

early 1970s

Logic of totalitarianism

Creating a perfect society out of imperfect human beings requires a high level of coercive control of every facet of life.

In contrast, authoritarian governments are

not interested in creating a utopia but maintaining control over existing society. Coercion only used against perceived enemies of the state.

Features of totalitarianism

1. Cult of the leader: Leader must be supreme and autonomous - Hero worship. Leader perceived as wise, paternal, charismatic. 

2. Radical ideology: official, total, comprehensive. Exploits popular fears and prejudices. Ideology inspires and legitimates a revolutionary break from the past: provides a scapegoat for past wrongs explains present sacrifices promises a future of peace & plenty

Features of totalitarianism

3. Organization. A single political party serves the leader in promoting the ideology. The party initially might be powerful, but it becomes subservient to the leader. In time, no dissent permitted even among party elites.

4.  Mass mobilization & indoctrination. Fanatic followers make any sacrifice. Regime mobilizes against internal enemies (opponents, scapegoats, counterrevolutionaries) and external enemies. Use aggressive warfare to keep people mobilized.

Features of totalitarianism

5.  Secret police. All sovereign states monopolize armed services and police, but totalitarian states also use secret police and informers to monitor and control the citizenry.

6.  Central control of all organizations, including schools, the arts, clubs, news media, labor unions, universities, churches, the economy. No separate organizations; no civil society.

Features of totalitarianism

7.  Terror and violence:  Creates atmosphere of crisis and political

instability. Dramatizes inability of old government to provide security.

To maintain control afterward. Keeps the population too terrorized to dissent.

Terror & Violence

Totalitarian leaders may become so obsessed with total control that they eliminate not just enemies but loyal deputies who could become rivals. Some even imagine enemies where none exist & conduct bloody purges.

Examples from Hitler, Lenin, Stalin and Mao Zedong.

Violence vs. Terror

Violence can be useful to dictators1. enhances leader’s status.2. brings economic gain (confiscating

property of victims).3. punishes political opponents and

thereby discourages future dissent.4. destroys a group completely. May

help solidify support among the other groups.

Violence vs. Terror

Terror useful in short term. It’s arbitrary and unpredictable.

Goal: to produce an extreme fear in populace to paralyze them into an utter lack of resistance.  Terror creates an emotional and psychological state. Where violence is a reaction to resistance, terror seeks to prevent resistance from ever forming. 

Terror serves two objectives:  1. to maintain control over society (eliminating

opposition before the fact) 2. to transform and radicalize society (which people

ordinarily would strongly resist). 

State terror over time

Once a reputation for terror is established, a regime does not need to continue the high level of actual terror. It can use rumors and lies to convince people that the government is both invincible and omniscient. The people will believe resistance is futile. 

In addition, terror becomes less necessary as a revolutionary government becomes more legitimate. Regime then has other means of ensuring obedience, such as material incentives.

State terror over time

However, in the long term, terror is highly dysfunctional. 1. Harms productivity and creativity, damaging economy & technological innovation. 2. Destroys individuals’ trust in government & other people, leading to break‑down of community and even family ties. 

Discussion

1. Define the point at which an authoritarian regime becomes totalitarian.

2. To what extent were the following regimes totalitarian: Stalin’s USSR Mao’s China The GDR Idi Amin’s Uganda

3. Are totalitarian regimes are a thing of the past. Are there modern totalitarian regimes? Do modern, empowering technologies (the internet, free

travel) preempt us from total control? Which modern leaders, if any, have developed a cult of

personality?4. Can you imagine a world where a wave of totalitarianism

reemerges? Is this likely/unlikely? Preventable?

Modern Authoritarianism:The case-studies below are deemed “not free” by the Freedom House Index. You are free to choose authoritarian regimes that are not on this list. We will use the

Freedom House index and other tools to gauge the state of modern authoritarianism

The Middle East The Shah and

Ahmadinejad (Iran) Colonel Mu’ammar al-

Qadhafi (Libya) Hosni Mubarak (Egypt) King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud

(Saudi Arabia)Central Asia

General Pervez Musharraf (Pakistan)

Islam Karimov (Uzbekistan)

Asia The CCP in China Kim Jong Il (North Korea)

Africa Joseph Kabila (Congo or

Kinsasha) Robert Mugabe

(Zimbabwe) Omar al-Bashir (Sudan)

“Europe” Alyaksandr Lukashenka

(Belarus) Vladimir Putin-Dmitry

Medvedev (Russia)Latin America

Fidel-Raul Casto (Cuba) Others?