Appointment from above matters more than unlimited authority for totalitarian stability

Evidence

As techniques of government, the totalitarian devices appear simple and ingeniously effective. They assure not only an absolute power monopoly, but unparalleled certainty that all commands will always be carried out; the multiplicity of the transmission belts, the confusion of the hierarchy, secure the dictator’s complete independence of all his inferiors and make possible the swift and surprising changes in policy for which totalitarianism has become famous. The body politic of the country is shock-proof because of its shapelessness. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 922 (#complicates, via linked claim)

In the center of the movement, as the motor that swings it into motion, sits the Leader. He is separated from the elite formation by an inner circle of the initiated who spread around him an aura of impenetrable mystery which corresponds to his “intangible preponderance.” His position within this intimate circle depends upon his ability to spin intrigues among its members and upon his skill in constantly changing its personnel. He owes his rise to leadership to an extreme ability to handle inner-party struggles for power rather than to demagogic or bureaucratic-organizational qualities. … Not Stalin, but Trotsky, moreover, was the greatest organizational talent, the ablest bureaucrat of the Russian Revolution. On the other hand, both Hitler and Stalin were masters of detail and devoted themselves in the early stages of their careers almost entirely to questions of personnel, so that after a few years hardly any man of importance remained who did not owe his position to them. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 866 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Totalitarian rule deliberately multiplies offices and conceals the true seat of power; The Leader’s power becomes structural necessity rather than personal superiority; Totalitarian leaders rise through intrigue and personnel control, not violence or bureaucracy — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 866 (+1 more)

Related

• Confused hierarchies make totalitarian rule shock-proof and command-certain (similarity 0.89)
• Totalitarian leaders rise through intrigue and personnel control, not violence or bureaucracy (similarity 0.87)
• Totalitarian elites obey vague orders meant to convey intent, not explicit commands (similarity 0.86)
• Totalitarian rule is not monolithic but deliberately overlapping, held by a Führer-principle (similarity 0.86)
• Deliberate administrative chaos absorbs opposition and enables rule without visible change (similarity 0.85)
• Totalitarian rule destroys any stable ruling clique, even at the top (similarity 0.85)
• The leader principle is totalitarian only through its organizational function. (similarity 0.83)
• Totalitarian hierarchy depends on top-down appointment, not elected authority (similarity 0.82)
• Totalitarian police multiply and layer competing spy agencies to prevent any stable authority (similarity 0.82)
• Hierarchical structures resist totalitarian power and therefore do not constitute it. (similarity 0.82)
• The Leader’s infallibility structures the movement, not the truth of his words (similarity 0.81)
• Duplicated secret services let totalitarian power keep contradictory options open (similarity 0.81)
• Totalitarian bureaucracy extends control into the private soul that older bureaucracies left intact (similarity 0.80)
• Totalitarian succession fails because knowledge of the power apparatus equals supreme power (similarity 0.80)
• Totalitarian government is not monolithic but a shapeless dual authority of party and state (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Confused hierarchies make totalitarian rule shock-proof and command-certain #complicates (0.80) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 922
• Totalitarian leaders rise through intrigue and personnel control, not violence or bureaucracy #expands (0.78) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 866
• The Leader’s power becomes structural necessity rather than personal superiority #expands (0.75)