Inverted Totalitarianism: The Reason for the Chaos

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCF chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

If you scroll through social media on any given day, you’ll see the word “fascist” hurled at politicians, policies, and even neighbors. However, what if the danger we face isn’t the traditional shows of authoritarianism we know, but something quieter and much harder to notice? 

Instead of worrying about the repetition of authoritarian leadership of the past, we should be more concerned about a different threat to democracy: inverted totalitarianism. 

Inverted totalitarianism is a political theory developed by political philosopher Sheldon Wolin in 2003. It is defined as a theoretical system in which economic powers, such as corporations, exert a subtle yet significant amount of influence over a system that appears superficially democratic. Unlike the overt totalitarian regimes we’ve seen in the past, inverted totalitarianism maintains an outward appearance of democracy while breaking down from the inside.

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The United States may not mirror 1930s Europe, but the risk is still real. We could potentially find ourselves living in a system that appears democratic while operating in undemocratic ways. Unlike classic totalitarianism seen under leaders such as Hitler and Stalin, inverted totalitarianism keeps many of the key elements of democracies. There is freedom of the press, elections, courts, and other democratic procedures, but their influence is severely weakened. 

This is why the word “fascism” misses the mark, because fascism is very emotion-based. When we picture fascism, we think of large rallies, displays of violence, and dictators exerting power. We don’t live under a regime in which oppositional parties are gone or leaders rule for life. We have elections, albeit flawed, but functional. We don’t appear to face the threat of a fascist government taking over, but rather, power being sent through different channels.

How we see Inverted Totalitarianism in America Today

Money controls politics. The Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. FEC (2010) held that the government cannot restrict independent political spending by corporations and unions under the First Amendment. Since then, unlimited corporate spending on politics has become the new normal.

A study conducted by Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page in Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens showed that most policy outcomes align with the interests of elites and corporations rather than those of the average American. When money starts to speak louder than a vote, it becomes clear that power no longer lies with the people. 

A political debate isn’t supposed to look like an episode of Saturday Night Live, and yet here we are. In a time where news is highly competitive and outrage is favored over normalcy, the media exacerbates our political climate. Social algorithms reward clicks, so having more shocking news is better for business.

However, psychologist Molly Crockett at Yale notes that these cycles of outrage feed on one another and can lead to fatigue and disengagement among audiences. When we treat politics like a show, where we continuously lose interest and understanding, it feels less like a part of our civic duty to engage in politics to make things better, and we start to lose our place in democracy.

Modern activism is as simple as reposting a political post on one’s Instagram story, but what does this action actually do with no other effort put in? The answer is simple: nothing. Sporting political merch, diving into the red and blue consumerist hole, and buying political products replace genuine deliberation with consumerism. This can all be attributed to the term slacktivism, also known as token activism, which is the idea that these actions often fail to translate into sustained political participation or institutional engagement. In other words, these shows of overconsumption and online activism don’t lead to any actual political action. 

Instead of limiting political activism to online gestures and sporting political merch, citizens can engage in more substantive forms of civic action. There are many ways this can be done: volunteering for local political campaigns, attending town hall meetings, and supporting independent political journalists are all ways to build political understanding, change, and experience.

Why is this Dangerous?

Inverted totalitarianism resembles a regular democracy, making it much harder to resist than classic totalitarian regimes, which were more overt. Citizens will continue to gradually become accustomed to their diminished role, eventually accepting the loss of power. In How Democracies Die (2018), political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt explain, “Democracies may die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders — presidents or prime ministers who subvert the very process that brought them to power.”  

Democracy doesn’t always collapse through a government takeover or a coup; it can happen more subtly and quietly. That’s why we must be aware of the signs of inverted totalitarianism now, before it is too late.

By recognizing what inverted totalitarianism is, we can help to reverse its power on our democracy. By proposing reforms for campaign financing, raising awareness about the signs of inverted totalitarianism, and treating politics as a civic duty, we can help prevent inverted totalitarianism from exerting as much influence over our democracy. 

All in all, if we continue to look for signs of authoritarianism, we will miss the more subtle system already at work. The danger is not a decisive overthrow of democracy in one night, but democracy slowly fading away as we grow accustomed to it. 

The choice of whether or not to act is on us.