Facts about Totalitarianism

During the Cold War period, the term gained renewed currency, especially following the publication of Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism (1957).

The most influential scholars of totalitarianism, such as Karl Popper, Hannah Arendt, Carl Friedrich, Zbigniew Brzezinski, and Juan Linz have each described totalitarianism in a slightly different way.

The notion of "post-totalitarianism" was put forward by political scientist Juan Linz.

Discussion of "post-totalitarianism" featured prominently in debates about the reformability and durability of the Soviet system in comparative politics.

Totalitarianism emerged in the twentieth century as a heuristic term to describe a seemingly common set of state strategies across a wide spectrum of societies.

Totalitarianism is a term employed by political scientists, especially those in the field of comparative politics, to describe modern regimes in which the state regulates nearly every aspect of public and private behavior.

Many classic theories of totalitarianism discounted the possibility of such change, however, later theorists not only acknowledged the possibility but in fact encouraged and welcomed it.

On the other hand, under totalitarianism, no individual or institution is autonomous from the state's all-encompassing ideology.