The Concept of “Totalitarianism” and Features of Totalitarian Power

Authors

  • Ludvig Vardanyan Yerevan State University

Keywords:

political regime, totalitarian power, democracy, national-socialism, fascism, communist regime, ideology, totalitarian man

Abstract

One of the main directions of political science research is the political regimes, which reflect the way the political system functions, methods of ruling, degree of political freedom and openness of the country. The peculiar features of a totalitarian power or a totalitarian regime are: the actual elimination of constitutional rights and freedoms, the full submission of public life to the interests of the authorities and the establishment of totalitarian control over society, the widespread use of political opposition and violent actions against dissidents, the absence of ideological pluralism of civil society, etc.
The article discusses various kinds of questions about the origin and uses, development and interpretation of the concept "totalitarianism". The manifestations of the ideological roots of totalitarianism in various periods, dating back to the political teachings of the Ancient World, are presented. In particular, the events of the 20th century and related comments are discussed, since it was during this period that totalitarianism became a political reality with its full-fledged manifestation. Turning to the problem of the characteristics of totalitarian power, the author presents a point of view, according to which each totalitarian power needs differentiation.

Author Biography

Ludvig Vardanyan, Yerevan State University

PhD, Associate Professor of the Chair of Theory and History of Political Science, YSU. Address: 0025, Yerevan, Alex Manoogian 1, Email: l.vardanyan@ysu.am

Published

2019-12-03

How to Cite

Vardanyan, Ludvig. 2019. “The Concept of ‘Totalitarianism’ and Features of Totalitarian Power”. Bulletin of Yerevan University D: International Relations and Political Sciences 10 (3 (30):59-72. https://pub.ysu.am/index.php/bulletin-ysu-int-rel-pol/article/view/Vol.30_No.3_2019_pp.59-72.

Issue

Section

Political science