From Law and Power to Ideology and Terror: Reflections on Hannah Arendt's Concepts of Totalitarianism and Imperialism

This dissertation examines the political theory of Hannah Arendt. I make the connection between Arendt's analysis of the conceptual pillars of law and power, illustrating how they become ideology and terror under totalitarianism. It is my argument that these concepts coupled with the dynamic involved in their transition are essential in understanding Hannah Arendt's concepts of totalitarianism and imperialism. By making this link, I specifically show that the connection between law and power and ideology and terror is critical for understanding Arendt's concept of totalitarianism as a truly novel form of government, one of the pervasive themes and underpinnings of much of her writings. Additionally, I illustrate the importance and relevance of these concepts as they relate to Arendt's notion of imperialism which constitutes a pivotal historical element of totalitarianism.;In a totalitarian regime, the conceptual pillar of law becomes ideology, the substitute for Montesquieu's principle of action, while power becomes terror, the very essence of government. The pillar of law, once a stabilizing factor, becomes the very expression of motion itself while terror represents a band of iron that holds human beings so tightly together that human plurality disappears. In describing this novel becoming between power and terror, I also carefully distinguish between Arendt's conceptions of violence and terror, as well as differentiate between total terror, revolutionary terror and tyrannical terror all which have significant implications for her political theory. In addition, I illustrate the breakdown of law and power in the imperialist era where the concept of the law as a boundary is replaced by the law of expansion and power becomes conflated with violence.;This dissertation combines political theory with a wide range of interdisciplinary sources including original archival research. Using several major sources from Arendt's work such as Montesquieu, J.A. Hobson and Joseph Conrad, my aim is to show how Arendt arrived at the conclusion that both totalitarianism and imperialism constitute new forms of government in the history of western political thought.