Usage notes

Contentious usage: precise definition, application to specific cases, and distinction from similar terms varies by author. Narrowly, a government in which everything is political and controlled by the state, coined to describe (m), in contrast to the older terms and concepts of (m), (m), and (m), which focus more on centralization of power, not its pervasiveness. Later applied to (l), to emphasize its commonalities with fascism. Sometimes considered an extreme form of (m), in other cases contrasted with it.