"Man appeared as the only sovereign in matters of law as the people was proclaimed the only sovereign in matters of government." (The Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt, 1994; page 291).
With the emancipation of the modern era, the sovereignty of YHWH as an imperial ruler Who defended the rights of the stranger and of the downtrodden was overthrown. Absent the higher authority of the super-natural ruler the world lost the higher authority of the supra-national ruler. The nation-state however was ill-equipped to deal with the complexities of civil society and of human rights.
A state that does not appreciate the values of civil society and of human rights is what we call a totalitarian state.
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