Nikolai Baranov. Totalitarian political regime and forms of its manifestation

Totalitarian political regime (totalitarianism)

"Totalitarianism (from the Latin totalis - whole, whole, complete) is one of the types of political regimes, characterized by complete (total) state control over all spheres of society."

“The first totalitarian regimes were formed after the First World War in countries belonging to the “second echelon of industrial development.” Italy and Germany were extremely totalitarian states. The formation of political totalitarian regimes became possible at the industrial stage of human development, when not only comprehensive control became technically possible over the individual, but also total control of his consciousness, especially during periods of socio-economic crises."

This term should not be considered only as negatively evaluative. This is a scientific concept that requires an appropriate theoretical definition. Initially, the concept of “total state” had a completely positive meaning. It denoted a self-organizing state, identical with a nation, a state where the gap between political and socio-political factors is eliminated. The current interpretation of the concept is first proposed to characterize fascism. Then it was extended to the Soviet and related models of the state.

In public administration, a totalitarian regime is characterized by extreme centralism. In practice, management looks like the execution of commands from above, in which initiative is not actually encouraged at all, but is strictly punished. Local authorities and administrations become simple transmitters of commands. The characteristics of regions (economic, national, cultural, social, religious, etc.) are, as a rule, not taken into account.

"The ideological origins and individual features of totalitarianism are rooted in antiquity. Initially, it was interpreted as the principle of building an integral, united society. In the 7th-4th centuries BC, the theorists of the rationalization of Chinese political and legal thought (legists) Tzu Chan, Shang Yang , Han Fei and others, rejecting Confucianism, advocated the doctrine of a strong, centralized state regulating all aspects of public and private life, including endowing the administrative apparatus with economic functions, establishing mutual responsibility among the population and officials (along with the principle of official responsibility for their affairs), systematic state control over the behavior and state of mind of citizens, etc. At the same time, they viewed state control in the form of a constant struggle between the ruler and his subjects. Central to the legalist program was the desire to strengthen the state through the development of agriculture, building a strong army capable of expand the borders of the country, and stupefy the people."

Plato proposed the type of totalitarian state regime close to the legalists of China. "The dialogue "State" contains the famous project of an "ideal social system", based on the principles of collective property of the ruling classes. In its later dialogues ("Polity", "Laws"), the socio-economic characteristics of the second, more perfect and different from the Athenian one are drawn society depicted in the "State". Plato endowed his second most dignified state with the following features: unconditional subordination of all citizens and each individual individually to the state; state ownership of land, residential buildings and cultural buildings, which were used by citizens on the basis of ownership, and not private property; the inculcation of collectivist principles and unanimity in everyday life; state regulation of children's upbringing by laws; a common religion for all fellow citizens, political and legal equality of women with men, excluding holding positions in the highest authorities."

Plato's law prohibited persons under 40 years of age from traveling outside the state on private matters and limited the entry of foreigners; provided for the cleansing of society from unwanted persons through the death penalty or expulsion from the country.

Plato's model of government regime is unacceptable for most modern countries.

The concept of a totalitarian regime was developed in the works of a number of German thinkers of the 19th century: G. Hegel, K. Marx, F. Nietzsche and some other authors. And yet, as a complete, formalized political phenomenon, totalitarianism matured in the first half of the 20th century.

Thus, we can say that the totalitarian regime is a product of the twentieth century.

“The Western concept of totalitarianism, including the directions of its critics, was formed on the basis of an analysis and generalization of the regimes of fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, Francoist Spain and the USSR during the years of Stalinism. After the First World War, the subject of additional study of political regimes was China, the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe".

This is not a complete list, indicating that totalitarian regimes can arise on different socio-economic bases and in diverse cultural and ideological environments. They can be a consequence of military defeats or revolutions, appear as a result of internal contradictions, or be imposed from the outside.

Although totalitarianism is called an extreme form of authoritarianism, there are signs that are particularly characteristic only of totalitarianism and distinguish all totalitarian state regimes from authoritarianism and democracy. I consider the following signs to be the most important:

1) general state ideology;
2) state monopoly on the media;
3) state monopoly on all weapons;
4) strictly centralized control over the economy;
5) one mass party led by a charismatic leader, that is, exceptionally gifted and endowed with a special gift;
6) a specially organized system of violence as a specific means of control in society;

Some of the above features of one or another totalitarian state regime developed, as already noted, in ancient times. But most of them could not be fully formed in pre-industrial society. Only in the 20th century. they acquired qualities of a universal nature and together made it possible for the dictators who came to power in Italy in the 20s, in Germany and the Soviet Union in the 30s, to transform the political regimes of power into totalitarian ones.

Under totalitarianism, the state strives for global dominance over all spheres of public life. Pluralism is being eliminated from socio-political life. Social and class barriers are violently demonstrated. The authorities claim to represent a certain universal “super-interest” of the population, in which social group, class, ethnic, professional and regional interests disappear and are depersonalized. The total alienation of the individual from power is affirmed.

Consequently, totalitarianism forcibly removes the problems: civil society - the state, the people - political power. “The state completely identifies itself with society, depriving it of its social functions of self-regulation and self-development.” Hence the peculiarities of the organization of a totalitarian system of state power:

1) global centralization of public power headed by a dictator;
2) the dominance of repressive apparatuses;
3) abolition of representative government bodies;
4) monopoly of the ruling party and integration of it and all other socio-political organizations directly into the system of state power.

The center of a totalitarian system is the leader. He is declared to be the wisest, infallible, fair, tirelessly thinking about the good of the people. Any critical attitude towards him is suppressed. Typically, charismatic individuals are nominated for this role.

In accordance with the guidelines of totalitarian regimes, all citizens were called upon to express support for the official state ideology and spend time studying it. Dissent and the emergence of scientific thought from the official ideology were persecuted.

In a totalitarian regime, its political party plays a special role. Only one party has lifelong ruling status, acts either in the singular, or “heads” a bloc of parties or other political forces, the existence of which is permitted by the regime. It always seizes the reins of government: the party and state apparatuses merge.

The specific features of a totalitarian regime are organized terror and total control, used to ensure the adherence of the masses to party ideology. The secret police and security apparatus uses extreme methods of influence to force society to live in a state of fear. In such states, constitutional guarantees either did not exist or were violated, as a result of which secret arrests, detention of people without charge and the use of torture became possible. In addition, the totalitarian regime encourages and widely uses denunciation, flavoring it with a “great idea,” for example, the fight against the enemies of the people. The search and imaginary machinations of enemies become a condition for the existence of a totalitarian regime. It is to the “enemies” and “saboteurs” that mistakes, economic troubles, and impoverishment of the population are attributed. Such bodies were the NKVD in the USSR, the Gestapo in Germany. Such bodies were not subject to any legal or judicial restrictions. To achieve their goals, these bodies could do whatever they wanted. Their actions were directed by the authorities not only against individual citizens, but also against entire peoples and classes. The mass extermination of entire populations during the times of Hitler and Stalin shows the enormous power of the state and the helplessness of ordinary citizens.

In addition, an important feature for totalitarian regimes is the government’s monopoly on information and complete control over the media.

Strict centralized control over the economy is an important feature of a totalitarian regime. Here control serves a dual purpose. Firstly, the ability to control the productive forces of society creates the material base and support necessary for the political regime, without which totalitarian control in other areas is hardly possible. Secondly, the centralized economy serves as a means of political control. For example, people can be forcibly moved to work in those areas of the national economy where there is a shortage of labor.

Militarization is also one of the main characteristics of a totalitarian regime. The idea of a military danger, of a “besieged fortress” becomes necessary, firstly, to unite society, to build it on the principle of a military camp. A totalitarian regime is aggressive in its essence and aggression helps to achieve several goals at once: to distract the people from their disastrous economic situation, to enrich the bureaucracy and the ruling elite, to solve geopolitical problems by military means. Aggression under a totalitarian regime can also be fueled by the idea of world domination, world revolution. The military-industrial complex and the army are the main pillars of totalitarianism.

A variety of totalitarianism are regimes where a “cult of personality” is carried out, the cult of a leader - infallible, wise, caring. In fact, it turns out that this is only a form of government in which the power-hungry, sometimes pathological ambitions of certain political leaders are realized.

Under totalitarianism, the state takes upon itself the care of every member of society. Members of society believe that the state should provide support and protect them in all cases, especially in the field of health care, education, and housing.

However, the social price for this method of exercising power increases over time (wars, destruction of motivation to work, coercion, terror, demographic and environmental losses, as well as other problems), which ultimately leads to an awareness of the harmfulness of the totalitarian regime and the need to eliminate it. Then the evolution of the totalitarian regime begins. The pace and forms of this evolution (up to destruction) depend on socio-economic changes and the corresponding increase in people, political struggle, as well as other factors.

The situation in the world community at the end of the 20th century indicates that anti-democratic regimes have historically and politically become obsolete. The world must move to democracy as a more necessary political regime. There was already an example in the 20th century when the contradictions between two totalitarian regimes led to war.

Totalitarian political regime

One of the varieties and extreme forms of an authoritarian regime is a totalitarian regime.

Totalitarianism (from the Latin totalis - whole, whole, complete) is one of the types of political regimes, characterized by complete (total) state control over all spheres of social life. The first totalitarian regimes were formed after the First World War in countries that belonged to the “second echelon of industrial development.” Italy and Germany were extremely totalitarian states. A totalitarian regime is characterized, as a rule, by the presence of one official ideology, which is formed and set by a socio-political movement, a political party, the ruling elite, a political leader, a “leader of the people”, in most cases charismatic. A totalitarian regime allows only one ruling party, and seeks to disperse, ban or destroy all others, even pre-existing parties. In public administration, a totalitarian regime is characterized by extreme centralism. In practice, management looks like the execution of commands from above, in which initiative is not actually encouraged at all, but is strictly punished. Local authorities and administrations become simple transmitters of commands. The center of a totalitarian system is the leader. He is declared to be the wisest, infallible, fair, tirelessly thinking about the good of the people. Any critical attitude towards him is suppressed. Typically, charismatic individuals are nominated for this role. The totalitarian regime widely and constantly uses terror against the population. Physical violence acts as the main condition for strengthening and exercising power. What especially stands out against the backdrop of the expanding executive bodies is the “power fist”, the “power structure” (army, police, security agencies, prosecutor’s office, etc.), i.e. punitive authorities. Under totalitarianism, complete control is established over all spheres of social life. In economic life, there is a process of nationalization in one form or another of ownership. In the political life of society, an individual, as a rule, is limited in rights and freedoms. And if formally political rights and freedoms are enshrined in law, then there is no mechanism for their implementation, as well as real opportunities for using them. The totalitarian regime uses police investigation, encourages and widely uses denunciation, flavoring it with a “great” idea, for example, the fight against the enemies of the people. The search and imaginary machinations of enemies become a condition for the existence of a totalitarian regime. It is to the “enemies”, “saboteurs” that mistakes, economic troubles, and impoverishment of the population are attributed. It was first given political significance by the leaders of the fascist movement in Italy.

In 1925, B. Mussolini was the first to coin the term “totalitarianism” to describe the Italo-fascist regime. The Western concept of totalitarianism, including the directions of its critics, was formed on the basis of an analysis and generalization of the regimes of fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and the USSR during the years of Stalinism. After the First World War, China and the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe became the subject of additional study of political regimes. A totalitarian regime is aggressive in its essence, and aggression helps to achieve several goals at once: to distract the people from their disastrous economic situation, to enrich the bureaucracy and the ruling elite, to solve geopolitical problems by military means. Aggression under a totalitarian regime can also be fueled by the idea of world domination, world revolution. The military-industrial complex and the army are the main pillars of totalitarianism. A variety of totalitarianism are regimes where a “cult of personality” is carried out, the cult of a leader - infallible, wise, caring. In fact, it turns out that this is only a form of government in which the power-hungry, sometimes pathological ambitions of certain political leaders are realized. One of the extreme forms of totalitarianism is the fascist regime, which is, first of all, characterized by nationalist ideology, ideas about the superiority of one nation over others (the dominant nation, the master race, etc.), and extreme aggressiveness. Fascism, as a rule, is based on nationalist, racist demagoguery, which is elevated to the rank of official ideology. The purpose of the fascist state is declared to be the protection of the national community, the solution of geopolitical and social problems, and the protection of the purity of the race. The main premise of the fascist ideologist is this: people are by no means equal before the law, the authorities, the court, their rights and responsibilities depend on what nationality or race they belong to. One nation, a race, is declared to be the highest, the main, the leading one in the state, in the world community, and therefore worthy of better living conditions. Other nations or races, even if they can exist, are only as inferior nations or races; they must ultimately be destroyed. Therefore, a fascist political regime is, as a rule, a misanthropic, aggressive regime that ultimately leads to suffering, first of all, of its people.

The fascist regime is characterized by reliance on the chauvinistic circles of big capital, the merger of the state apparatus with monopolies, military-bureaucratic centralism, which leads to the decline of the role of central and local representative institutions, the growth of discretionary powers of the executive bodies of State power, the merging of trade union parties with the state apparatus, and leaderism.

Under fascism, universal legal and moral values are destroyed, arbitrariness increases, punitive procedures are simplified, sanctions are tightened and preventive measures are introduced, individual rights and freedoms are destroyed, and the number of acts recognized as criminal increases. The state under fascism incredibly expands its functions and establishes control over all manifestations of public and personal life. The constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens are destroyed or nullified. The fascist regime was first established in Italy in 1922. In it, totalitarian features were not fully expressed. The king, aristocracy, officer corps and church retained influential positions in the state. Italian fascism proclaimed its goal not so much the radical construction of a new society as the revival of the Italian nation and the greatness of the Roman Empire, the establishment of order and firm state power. National Socialism as a real political and social system established itself in Germany in 1933. It is a highly consolidated totalitarian regime that borrows a lot from Soviet communism, in particular the forms of organization of the totalitarian party and state. His main goal was to proclaim the world domination of the Aryan race, to achieve which he sought extreme militarization and unbridled military expansion, and genocide in the occupied countries and territories.

The most important signs are the following:

General state ideology,

State monopoly on the media,

State monopoly on all weapons,

Strictly centralized control over the economy,

One mass party, led by a charismatic leader, that is, exceptionally gifted and endowed with a special gift,

A specially organized system of violence as a specific means of control in society. For example, take strict centralized control over the economy: here control serves a dual purpose. Firstly, the ability to control the productive forces of society creates the material base and support necessary for the political regime, without which totalitarian control in other areas is hardly possible. Secondly, the centralized economy serves as a means of political control. For example, people can be forcibly moved to work in those areas of the national economy where there is a shortage of labor.

In general, a totalitarian regime arises in crisis situations - post-war, during a civil war, when it is necessary to use tough measures to restore the economy, restore order, eliminate divisions in society, and ensure stability. Currently, the situation in the world community indicates that, as such, anti-democratic regimes as a whole have outlived their usefulness historically and politically.

The extreme form of an authoritarian regime is totalitarianism. The formation of political totalitarian regimes became possible at the industrial stage of human development, when not only comprehensive control over an individual, but also total control of his consciousness, became technically possible, especially during periods of socio-economic crises.

The first totalitarian regimes were formed after the First World War in countries that belonged to the “second echelon of industrial development” (Italy, Germany, Russia).

The ideological origins and individual features of totalitarianism go back to antiquity. Initially, it was interpreted as a principle for building an integral, united society. In the VII-IV centuries. BC e. theorists of rationalization of Chinese political and legal thought (legists) Zi Chan, Shang Yang, Han Fei and others, rejecting Confucianism, advocated the doctrine of a strong, centralized state regulating all aspects of public and private life.

The concept of a totalitarian regime was developed in the works of a number of German thinkers of the 19th century: G. Hegel, K. Marx, F. Nietzsche, O. Spengler and some other authors. And yet, as a complete, formalized political phenomenon, totalitarianism matured in the first half of the 20th century.

It was first given political significance by the leaders of the fascist movement in Italy. In 1925, Benito Mussolini was the first to coin the term “totalitarianism” to describe the Italo-fascist regime. At the end of the 20s, the English newspaper The Times also spoke out about totalitarianism as a negative political phenomenon that characterizes not only fascism, but also the political regime in the Soviet Union.

The Western concept of totalitarianism, including the directions of its critics, was formed on the basis of an analysis and generalization of the regimes of fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, Francoist Spain and the USSR during the years of Stalinism. After the First World War, the subject of additional study of political regimes was China, the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe and some Third World countries.

Western political scientists K. Friedrich and Z. Brzezinski, in their work “Totalitarian dictatorship and autocracy,” were the first to identify six features that distinguish all totalitarian state regimes from democracy and authoritarianism:

universal state ideology;

one mass party led by a charismatic leader, that is, exceptionally gifted and endowed with a special gift;

state monopoly on the media;

state monopoly on all weapons;

a specially organized system of violence, terror as a specific means of control in society;

strictly centralized control over the economy.

Essential features of totalitarianism are revealed when comparing it with an authoritarian regime. The main thing is not how often direct violence (terrorism) is practiced here. Other authoritarian systems do not neglect it either. One-party rule cannot serve as a sufficient criterion, since it also occurs under authoritarianism. The essence of the differences lies primarily in the relationship of the state with society. If under authoritarianism a certain autonomy of society in relation to the state is preserved, then under totalitarianism it is ignored and rejected. The state strives for global dominance over all spheres of public life. Pluralism is being eliminated from socio-political life. Social and class barriers are violently demonstrated. The authorities claim to represent a certain universal “super-interest” of the population, in which social group, class, ethnic, professional and regional interests disappear and become depersonalized. The total alienation of the individual from power is affirmed.

Consequently, totalitarianism forcibly removes the problems: civil society - the state, the people - political power. The state completely identifies itself with society, depriving it of its social functions of self-regulation and self-development. Hence the peculiarities of the organization of a totalitarian system of state power:

global centralization of public power headed by a dictator;

the dominance of repressive apparatuses;

abolition of representative bodies of government;

the monopoly of the ruling party and the integration of it and all other socio-political organizations directly into the system of state power and the transformation of the latter into a kind of “transmission belts” (means) of a totalitarian dictatorship.

Legitimation of power is based on direct violence, state ideology and personal commitment of citizens to the leader, political leader (charisma). Truth and personal freedom are virtually absent. A very important feature of totalitarianism is its social base and the specificity of the ruling elites determined by it. According to many researchers of Marxist and other orientations, totalitarian regimes arise on the basis of the antagonism of the middle classes and even the broad masses in relation to the previously dominant oligarchy.

Let us consider in more detail the essential features and principles of functioning of totalitarian political regimes.

First of all, about the “ideological absolutism” of totalitarian power. Firstly, it is associated with the spread in such countries of messianic mono-ideology - social or national, designed to inspire and gather the broad masses under the banner of the regimes. Secondly, the spiritual preparation of the population for certain sacrifices in the name of solving “lofty heroic tasks”, an ideological cover for the selfish interests of the ruling nomenklatura.

Without understanding all this, it is impossible to reveal the reasons for the establishment of the Hitlerite and Stalinist political regimes, to explain their connection with the masses, their support with the people of these countries.

In a totalitarian regime, its political party plays a special role. Only one party has a lifelong ruling (leading) status, acts either in the singular, or “heads” a bloc of parties or other political forces, the existence of which is permitted by the regime. Such a party, as a rule, is created before the emergence of the regime itself and plays a decisive role in its establishment - in that one day it comes to power. At the same time, her coming to power does not necessarily occur through violent measures. For example, the Nazis in Germany came to power entirely through parliamentary means, after the appointment of their leader A. Hitler to the post of Reich Chancellor. Having come to power, such a party becomes a state party, party and state structures unite and merge, and the power itself becomes party-state.

Hitler's Gestapo and the Soviet NKVD were not subject to any legal or judicial restrictions. Their actions were directed by the directors of power not only against individual citizens, but also against entire peoples, classes and political parties. Depending on the specific country, Jews, communists, capitalists, etc. could be declared such enemies of society and the regime.

The mass extermination of entire populations under Hitler and Stalin shows the enormous power of the state and the helplessness of ordinary citizens.

Totalitarian regimes are characterized by a monopoly of power on information and complete control over the media. With the help of the media and institutions of the spiritual sphere, political mobilization and almost one hundred percent support for the ruling regime are ensured.

Left-wing political regimes used various programs to encourage workers to work intensively to increase labor productivity in the economy. The Soviet Five-Year Plans and the economic reforms in China are examples of the mobilization of the labor efforts of the peoples of these countries, and their results cannot be denied.

The task of historians and political scientists is to explain, without falsifying reality, the phenomenon of left-wing radical totalitarianism, which not only raised two world powers, but also shackled the world for decades with the fear of a nuclear missile disaster.

Left-wing radical totalitarian political regimes are taking root in moderately developed and developing countries (Russia, China and others), where the replacement of pre-existing social and political structures and forms of ownership with completely new ones was carried out through worker-peasant revolutions directed by the Communist Parties. What we know about Soviet society during the Stalin years was a left-wing radical totalitarian political regime.

Right-wing totalitarian regimes in Italy and Germany solved the problem of total control over the economy and other spheres of life using different methods. In Hitler's Germany and fascist Italy, they did not resort to nationalization of the entire economy, but introduced their own effective methods and forms of party-state control over private and joint-stock businesses, as well as over trade unions and over the spiritual sphere of production.

Right-wing totalitarian regimes with a right-wing bias first appeared in industrialized countries, but with relatively undeveloped democratic traditions. Italian fascism built its model of society on a corporate-state basis, and German National Socialism on a racial-ethnic basis.

Right-wing totalitarianism aims to strengthen the existing order in a liberal society without radically breaking it, by exalting the role of the state, abolishing individual social institutions and elements, just as Hitler made every effort to destroy communists, social democrats and Jews living in Germany , gypsy; create a new society.

Totalitarian political regimes, therefore, are created by the powerful elites to implement the ideological doctrines and selfish economic interests of the ruling classes. And therefore, all totalitarian regimes sooner or later collapse, and the countries where they took place move either to liberal democratic systems (Germany, Spain, Italy, etc.) or to socialist democracy (China, etc.).

A totalitarian regime is characterized by the state’s desire for absolute control over all areas of public life, the complete subordination of a person to political power and the dominant ideology.

The concept of “totalitarianism” means whole, whole, complete. It was introduced into circulation by the ideologist of Italian fascism G. Gentile at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1925, this concept was first heard in the Italian parliament. The leader of Italian fascism B. Mussolini introduced it with political vocabulary. From this time on, the formation of a totalitarian system began in Italy, then in the USSR during the years of Stalinism and in Hitler’s Germany from 1933.

In each of the countries in which a totalitarian regime arose and developed, it had its own characteristics. At the same time, there are common features that are characteristic of all forms of totalitarianism and reflect its essence. These include the following.

High concentration of power, hypertrophy of the leadership apparatus, its penetration into all spheres of social life. In the totalitarian consciousness the problem of “government and society” does not exist:

1. The government and the people are conceived as a single, inseparable whole. Completely different problems become relevant, namely: power and people in the fight against internal enemies, power and people - against a hostile external environment. Paradoxical as it may be, in conditions of totalitarianism, the people, who are actually detached from power, believe that power expresses their interests deeper and more fully than they themselves could do.

2.Totalitarian regimes are characterized by one-party rule. There is only one ruling party, headed by a charismatic leader. The network of party cells of this party permeates all production and organizational structures of society, directing their activities and exercising control.

3. Ideologization of the entire life of society. The basis of totalitarian ideology is the consideration of history as a natural movement towards a specific goal (world domination, building communism, etc.), which justifies all means. This ideology includes a series of myths (about the leadership of the working class, the superiority of the Aryan race, etc.) that reflect the power of magical symbols.

4. Totalitarianism is characterized by a power monopoly on information and complete control over the media. All information is one-sided - glorifying the existing system and its achievements. With the help of the media, the task of raising the enthusiasm of the masses to achieve the goals set by the totalitarian regime is solved.

5. The state's monopoly on the use of all means of armed struggle - the army, police, and all other law enforcement agencies are exclusively subordinate to the center of political power.

6. The existence of a proven system of universal control over people’s behavior through systems of violence. For these purposes, concentration camps and ghettos are created, where hard labor is used, people are tortured, their will to resist is suppressed, and innocent people are massacred. In a totalitarian society there is a carefully developed repressive apparatus. With its help, fear for personal fate and family members, suspicion and denunciation are instilled, and anonymous accounts are encouraged. Everything is being done to ensure that dissent and opposition do not arise in the country. With the help of law enforcement and punitive agencies, the state controls the life and behavior of the population.

7. As is common to all totalitarian regimes, it should be noted that they operate in accordance with the principle that everything is prohibited except what is “ordered by the authorities.” Guided by this principle, society carried out the education of a person. Totalitarianism needs an extremely modest person, modest in everything: in desires, in clothing, in behavior. The desire is cultivated not to stand out, to be like everyone else. The appearance of individuality and originality in judgments is suppressed; Denunciation, servility, and hypocrisy are becoming widespread.

These are the main common features of totalitarian political regimes, which provides grounds for combining them into one group.

Studying the general features of totalitarian political regimes and features, their various forms, undoubtedly makes it more accessible to understand the conditions and ways of the emergence of totalitarian regimes that brought so much grief to humanity. Totalitarian regimes significantly slowed down the progress of economic and social development in countries where these regimes were dominant. The study of this issue attracted many outstanding scientists - political scientists, economists, historians, psychologists, sociologists, etc. The works of F. Hayek “The Road to Serfdom” (1944), X Arendt “The Origins of Totalitarianism” (1951) made a great contribution to its development. .), K. Friedrich and Z. Brzezinski “Total dictatorship and democracy”, R. Aron “Democracy and totalitarianism” (1958), etc. Almost all researchers come to the conclusion that the prerequisites for totalitarianism are diverse and stem from different spheres of public life: economic, political, social. They are based on ideological prerequisites and psychological factors. And what is especially important is that in each of the countries in which a totalitarian political regime arose, along with general prerequisites (characteristic of all totalitarian countries), there were also specific ones, characteristic only of this country

Totalitarian regime

Classification of political regimes

Factors of differentiation of political regimes

The concept of a political regime includes a number of basic criteria:

The nature and extent of the exercise of power;

Mechanism of power formation;

Relationships between society and government;

The role and significance of non-state and non-political organizations and structures;

The nature of the prohibitions existing in society;

The role of ideology in the life of society;

The nature of political leadership;

The relationship between the rights and freedoms of citizens;

State of the media;

The role of political parties;

The relationship between the legislative and executive powers;

The role and significance of suppressive organs;

Type of political behavior.

In the scientific literature there is a wide variety of classifications of political regimes. Each of them has its positive and negative sides. It is quite difficult to select the only correct option. It should be noted that most modern approaches, one way or another, take into account two factors: the degree of development of political democracy and the real political and legal status of the individual.

The first information about democracy and tyranny, dictatorship and ochlocracy comes from ancient times. Since then, it has become obvious that in any managed community, incl. and in non-political structures, there are two mutually exclusive ways of interaction: authoritarianism as sole rule and unconditional submission, and democracy as equality, agreement, freedom of choice. In real life, it is almost impossible to identify absolutely “pure” types of political regimes. All their classifications are to a certain extent conditional.

The most general principle of the typology of regimes is their division into democratic and authoritarian, all others are considered as their modifications. However, there are other approaches. The most common classification is according to which all modes are divided into:

3) democratic.

There are also a number of intermediate or transitional types.

Its name comes from the Latin totalis - whole, complete, whole. Totalitarian regime characterized by the fact that all power is concentrated in the hands of any one group (usually a party), which has destroyed democratic freedoms and the possibility of the emergence of a political opposition in the country, completely subordinated the life of society to its interests and maintains its power through violence, military-police terror and spiritual enslavement population.

The term "totalitarianism" appeared in the twenties of the twentieth century. Its author was B. Mussolini. The appearance of the term is associated with the emergence of fascism, which its theorists called " total concept of life". Opponents of fascism took this term into service, giving it the opposite content. Gradually it penetrated into many countries and many languages. At first it was used only to refer to fascism, in the thirties it began to be used in relation to the USSR.

A totalitarian regime, like no other, is especially difficult to understand. It is difficult to immediately answer the question through which characteristics it is easier to describe it: through changes occurring in the political system of society, or through its psychological manifestations. The special character of this regime was also manifested in the fact that it was fiction (E. Zamyatin, B. Platonov, S. Kerster, D. Orwell, A. Solzhenitsyn) that made it possible to show in its entirety not only the political processes taking place in society under this regime, but also the psychological degeneration of society is sometimes difficult to describe in the dry language of scientific categories.

Let us consider this type of political regime based on the criteria outlined in paragraph 1.

The nature and extent of the exercise of power.

Universal control and violence. The authorities control all spheres of society: economy, culture, religion, private life of citizens, including the motives of their actions. In society, the line between political and non-political life disappears; everything becomes politics.

Formation of power.

The formation of power is carried out in a bureaucratic way, through channels closed from society. Power is surrounded by a “halo of secrecy” and is inaccessible to control by society; there is no mechanism for its succession.

People's attitude to power.

Society is completely alienated from power, but it does not realize it. The idea of a “merger of society with power” is being formed in the political consciousness.

The role of ideology in society.

The general regulation of life is carried out through ideology, which turns into a unique secular form of religion. This regime is often defined figuratively as “ideology in power.” Totalitarian ideology establishes its monopoly in all spheres. As a rule, the role of ideology is essentially to provide criticism of the old society or a certain government, to form ideas about a “bright future”, and to give recommendations on how to achieve this future. Totalitarian ideology proclaims a general reorganization of society on the basis of new values. Ideology is managed by the party, which exercises control over the mentality of society, the process of socialization of the individual, and over all means of mass communication. Any dissent is suppressed.

The nature of leadership.

The leader relies on the party or group. His views, through the institution of official ideology, extend to the entire society. The leader is always charismatic; he has a feeling of merging with the people.

The sphere of permissible and prohibited.

Everything is prohibited except what is ordered (permitted).

State of the media.

The government exercises complete control over all media, and there is no free access to information. A totalitarian society can only exist as an absolutely “closed” society. Any comparison with the outside world is dangerous for him, because it is based not only on coercion, but also on the conviction that this society is the “correct” one, the best in the world. Acquaintance with the outside world destroys the kingdom of myths, tears away the veil and thereby undermines its foundations.

Availability of democratic rights and freedoms.

Democratic rights and freedoms are of a declared, formal nature, although the state performs certain social functions. It guarantees the right to work, education, health care, etc.

Changes in the social structure of society.

Under a totalitarian regime, there is a consistent declassification of society due to the alienation of citizens from property. Society acquires a two-dimensional structure: the controlled (“cogs”) and the managers. From a living organism it turns into a mechanism arbitrarily designed by the authorities. It destroys all horizontal structures, relationships and connections.

Changes in the political system of society.

There are special relationships and interactions between the components of the political system of society. All political parties are destroyed, except for one ruling one, as well as public organizations in the proper meaning of this term. There is a merger of the state apparatus with the apparatus of the ruling party and the apparatus of public organizations. In society, special relations “power – property” are formed. The state has special distribution functions, the role of representative institutions and institutions of power is reduced to a minimum, the repressive apparatus grows, it receives special powers.

Political culture.

A totalitarian regime is characterized by the desire to create a “new man” with special political consciousness and political behavior. The party, controlling the process of political socialization, strives to form a new type of political culture of society, which is characterized by the sacralization of power (its deification), a feeling of merging with power and love for it, the idea of the state as the source of distribution of all benefits, and enthusiasm in political behavior.

Concluding the analysis of the totalitarian regime, it can be noted that in the scientific literature, a model of totalitarianism has taken shape, which includes the following components:

Recognition of the leading role of one party in the political sphere and the implementation of its dictatorship;

The dominance of official ideology in the spiritual sphere and its forced imposition on members of society;

The existence of general control over the behavior of individuals in the social sphere using methods of suppression;

General control over all means of mass communication;

Centralized leadership and economic management.

The internal essence of this regime was very figuratively characterized by the American political scientist R. Daniels: “Not a single thought, not a single person is free from the control of the state and its bodies, nothing is free from the tutelage of the party in power.” (Quoted from: Fundamentals of Political Science. Course of lectures edited by Pugachev V.P. - M. - 1994. - P. 203).

Totalitarian regime - concept and types. Classification and features of the category “Totalitarian regime” 2017, 2018.