The remainder of this chapter prepares the way. The first task is to develop our understanding of what instrumentarian power is not, so in the section that follows we briefly consider key elements of twentieth-century totalitarianism. Most important is the fact that, like instrumentarianism, totalitarian power was also unprecedented. It literally defied human comprehension. There is much that we can learn from the struggles and missteps of scholars, journalists, and citizens as they found themselves overwhelmed by a force that they could neither fathom nor resist. Once we have tackled these
...more
