Deliberate administrative chaos absorbs opposition and enables rule without visible change

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 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Confused hierarchies make totalitarian rule shock-proof and command-certain — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 922; Expert bureaucracy came to control democratic regimes and parliaments; Destroying symbolic hierarchies produces chaos, not liberation. — Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation, 424 (+3 more)

Related

• Confused hierarchies make totalitarian rule shock-proof and command-certain (similarity 0.91)
• Totalitarian elites obey vague orders meant to convey intent, not explicit commands (similarity 0.86)
• Appointment from above matters more than unlimited authority for totalitarian stability (similarity 0.85)
• Totalitarian rule is not monolithic but deliberately overlapping, held by a Führer-principle (similarity 0.84)
• Overlapping, competing offices make totalitarian opposition nearly impossible to organize (similarity 0.80)
• Duplicated secret services let totalitarian power keep contradictory options open (similarity 0.79)
• Hierarchical structures resist totalitarian power and therefore do not constitute it. (similarity 0.79)
• Deliberately induced political chaos consolidates rather than weakens the orchestrator’s power (similarity 0.78)
• Totalitarian police multiply and layer competing spy agencies to prevent any stable authority (similarity 0.78)
• Totalitarian rule preserves parallel offices to keep power constantly shifting (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Confused hierarchies make totalitarian rule shock-proof and command-certain #expands (0.80) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 922