Authority is linked to responsibility, which means knowing how to answer, both for oneself and for the world. This is also how it is linked to the power of speech. Demonstrating authority necessarily means knowing how to answer for one's actions. However, when everyone in the organization disclaims responsibility, they are no longer the author of their actions and take refuge in the anonymity of the crowd ("it's not me, it's everyone").

By applying a psychopathological key to the phenomenon of totalitarianism, Ariane Bilheran has undertaken pioneering work and considerably deepened our knowledge of this phenomenon, which until now had been confined to sociopolitical analysis. As her original vision gradually established itself as an essential approach, it seemed useful to her to return to the origins and inspirations of her idea.