The concept ‘political religion’ (in Fr., religion politique; religion séculière, Fr., ‘secular religion’) is used to denote totalitarian systems of the twentieth century, such as → National Socialism, Stalinism, and Maoism (→ Mao [Cult of]), under the viewpoint of a union of church and state, a condition so pregnant with consequences. It was political scientist and philosopher Eric Voegelin who offered the first systematic treatment of the theme, against the background of a strengthening National Socialism in 1938, with his essay, Die politischen Religionen (Ger., “The Politi…