Level of society needing pluck to restrain a totalitarian leader (7)

I believe the answer is:

stratum

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'level of society' is the definition.
'stratum' can be an answer for 'level' (I've seen this before). I'm not sure about the 'of society' bit.

'pluck to restrain a totalitarian leader' is the wordplay.
'pluck' becomes 'strum' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'to restrain' indicates putting letters inside.
'leader' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'totalitarian' is 't'.
'a'+'t'='at'
'strum' placed around 'at' is 'STRATUM'.

'needing' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for stratum that I've seen before include "Bed of sedimentary rock" , "rock band" , "(Geological) layer" , "Layer (of rock)" , "Social class - level" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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