As evidence of the movement as the true purpose of a totalitarian regime, Arendt notes that the Nazis did not actually believe that the German people were the master race, whatever they may have told the masses in propaganda, but believed that they were creating the master race that would rule the earth (416). However, this inefficient power structure works well for furthering the movement, which is ultimately the goal of every totalitarian regime. An example of this inefficiency is the duplication of offices, which often results in contradictory orders and the bungling of administrative tasks. This explains the seeming irrationality and inefficiency of totalitarian organization. But not, however, for the benefit of these individuals. The power is derived, according to Arendt, from the base of isolated, atomized individuals. Though the ideological line of the regime will insist that the will of the leader is the supreme law of the land, power does not rest only with the leader.įurthermore, the lack of successful palace revolts in totalitarian regimes shows that they are not merely ruled by a clique or a gang. This structurelessness of totalitarian regimes complicates the supremacy of the ruler. Evidence of this includes the very common duplication of office in totalitarian regimes and the coexistence of “supposed” and “real” power. Totalitarian power is characterized not by a singular power, but rather an amorphous structure and a complex relationship between the state and the party. It is a constant struggle for totalitarian leadership to maintain the masses’ contempt for the outside world and the status quo in the face of the reality and the restrictions imposed by having political power.

They are forced to attempt to resist stability and normalization in their regimes, because this would stop the movement and liquidate the fiction of an ever-developing power they had created through propaganda. When totalitarianism takes power, it must confront reality this is a constant problem for totalitarian regimes.

Arendt totalitarianism