Hannah Arendt 2026: Systems-Theoretic Reconstruction of Totalitarian Structural Logic and Democratic Alternatives

This working paper develops a systems-theoretic reconstruction of totalitarian structural logic based on Hannah Arendt's analyses in "The Origins of Totalitarianism" (1951) and "Eichmann in Jerusalem" (1963). The central research question: How do Arendt's observations on responsibility diffusion, erosion of judgment, and mass isolation manifest in contemporary societal structures – and what institutional designs can generate structural resilience against totalitarian attractor states? Methodologically, the work combines political theory with systems-theoretic structural analysis and formal modeling. The paper argues that technology (social media, AI, big data) does not create new totalitarian structures but makes historically persistent mechanisms visible: humans do not reflect by default, responsibility diffuses in complex systems, isolation occurs in crowds. Main finding: Totalitarian orders are characterized not primarily by intentional malice but by structural feedback loops that systematically erode individual judgment. This extends Arendt's concept of the "banality of evil" with a quantifiable process perspective. The work develops a blueprint for "fail-safe democracy" – institutional architectures that make totalitarian attractor states improbable by design. It concludes by analyzing why existing political structures (parties, representative democracy, bureaucracy) block technological solutions: they are themselves part of totalitarian structural logic and would become obsolete through its overcoming. Appendix C provides a complete mathematical specification (F_Asset framework) as an implementation-ready governance system with hard constraints for auditability, non-surveillance, and automated circuit breakers.