BharatNotes Totalitarian
adjective; also nounUsage in a UPSC answer
A totalitarian state does not merely suppress dissent; by colonising education, the press and even private conscience, it erodes the very civil society on which a healthy democracy depends.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
totalitarianism (n), totalitarianise (v), totalitarianly (adv), anti-totalitarian (adj), totalitarianist (n)
Root
Italian totalitario = total, absolute; from Latin totalis = whole; -an = adjectival/noun suffix; coined 1920s
Etymology
From Italian totalitario ("total, absolute") + English suffix "-an"; coined in the 1920s, initially used by opponents of Mussolini's regime; later adopted by Mussolini himself as a term of praise for his state.
Memory Hook
"TOTAL control": a TOTALitarian regime seeks TOTAL power over the totality of life, leaving nothing outside the state.
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
Describing a regime that seeks control over the whole of public and private life. The term's value lies in the analytical apparatus built on it. Friedrich and Brzezinski defined it as a syndrome of features that must occur together: an official ideology covering all aspects of existence, a single mass party under one leader, terror exercised through party or police, a near-monopoly of mass communication, a near-monopoly of armed force, and central direction of the economy. Hannah Arendt's account is different and more influential in political theory, holding that such rule requires the atomisation of society, the destruction of the independent associations through which people act together, so that isolated individuals confront the state alone. The term is contested precisely because it groups Nazi Germany with Stalin's Soviet Union, which some historians find illuminating and others regard as a Cold War equation of regimes with very different aims.
Don’t Confuse It With
A totalitarian regime seeks to remake society and the individual according to an official ideology, which is why it requires a mass party and control of communication. Fascism is one ideological variant and Stalinism another, so the category is wider than either. Atomisation is Arendt's term for the destruction of the independent associations that leaves individuals isolated before the state. Civil society is exactly what such a regime must abolish in order to function, which is why its survival is the practical test of whether a state has crossed the line.
Hindi Meaning
अधिनायकवादी (adhināyakvādī) or सर्वसत्तावादी.
Common Questions
- What features define a totalitarian regime?
- An official all-encompassing ideology, a single mass party under one leader, rule by terror, near-monopolies of mass communication and of armed force, and central direction of the economy.
- Why is the term totalitarian contested?
- Because it groups Nazi Germany with Stalin's Soviet Union, which some historians consider analytically useful and others regard as a Cold War equation of regimes with quite different purposes.
Tip: press Alt+S to hear pronunciation
