A special version of authoritarian control - political or cultural - that invades the individual's private sphere in all aspects of life, and operates by the willing participation of the people in their own oppression Totalitarianism is often confused with regular tyranny, and shouldn't be: totalitarianism is far more rational, systematic, and invisible than little-fish dictators Along these lines, totalitarianism could only emerge in the twentieth century, thanks to information technology There were three in the past hundred years: Stalin's Soviet Union, Hitler's Third Reich, and Mao's People's Republic Many thinkers see today's global economy and entertainment-based soothing of outrage as the foundations of the next totalitarian system, McWorld
a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc )
Totalitarianism is the ideas, principles, and practices of totalitarian political systems. Form of government that subordinates all aspects of its citizens' lives to the authority of the state, with a single charismatic leader as the ultimate authority. The term was coined in the early 1920s by Benito Mussolini, but totalitarianism has existed throughout history throughout the world (e.g., Qin dynasty China). It is distinguished from dictatorship and authoritarianism by its supplanting of all political institutions and all old legal and social traditions with new ones to meet the state's needs, which are usually highly focused. Large-scale, organized violence may be legitimized. The police operate without the constraint of laws and regulations. Where pursuit of the state's goal is the only ideological foundation for such a government, achievement of the goal can never be acknowledged. Hannah Arendt's Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) is the standard work on the subject