"The textbook definition is usually this idea that totalitarianism is when one person or one party has control of the government. But that doesn’t actually hold up. A state can be assumed to have total authority over the lives of its citizens even if it is run by multiple parties or by bureaucrats, as is often the case. Totalitarianism is when the state itself has unlimited jurisdiction — when it can control the totality of life. Obviously there will always be physical limits to a state’s power, but totalitarianism is when there are no limits to the scope of its authority."

Isaac Botkin, T.Rex Talk podcast