Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism is a political system where a government has unlimited control.  In some totalitarian regimes, a dictator holds all of the power; in others, a single political party does. In all cases, the government tries to control every part of its citizens' lives, and individuals have few rights.Conquest, Robert 1999. Reflections on a ravaged century. p. 74. ISBN 0-393-04818-7 

Totalitarianism is a type of autocracy, and an extreme form of authoritarianism.

 Description 
In a totalitarian government, there are no free and fair elections. If elections are held at all, every candidate must be approved by the government. 

Totalitarian regimes do not allow people to criticize the government. They use censorship, physical force, and/or arrests against people who protest.

Events like parades and rallies are common in totalitarian governments. These suggest to the people that the ruling group is in complete control.John A. Armstrong 1961. The Politics of Totalitarianism. New York: Random House.

Totalitarian governments are like police states, except that their police do not have to follow laws or regulations.

 History 
In some places, totalitarianism is as old as history.Hannah Arendt 1951. The Origins of Totalitarianism. New York: Random House. The Mauryan dynasty of India (c. 321–c. 185 BCE) and the Qin dynasty of China (221–207 BCE) are two early examples. The Zulu Kingdom under chief Shaka (c. 1816–28) is a more recent example.  

 Modern examples 
During World War II, totalitarian governments existed in Nazi Germany (led by Adolf Hitler); Fascist Italy (led by Benito Mussolini);Gentile, Emilio (2008). "Fascism and the Italian Road to Totalitarianism". Constellations. 15 (3): 291–302. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8675.2008.00492.x. ISSN 1467-8675. Spain (under General Francisco Franco);Payne, Stanley Fascism in Spain, 1923–1977, pp. 347, 476. 1999. Univ. of Wisconsin Press and the Empire of Japan. 

Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin led totalitarian regimes in the former Soviet Union.Riley, Alexander (1 October 2019). "Lenin and His Revolution: The First Totalitarian". Society. 56 (5): 503–511. doi:10.1007/s12115-019-00405-1. ISSN 1936-4725. S2CID 203447806. So did Mao Zedong in The People's Republic of China.Pei, Minxin (2021). "China: Totalitarianism's Long Shadow". Journal of Democracy. 32 (2): 5–21. doi:10.1353/jod.2021.0015. S2CID 234930289. 

In modern times, North Korea (under Kim Jong-Un) is a totalitarian regime. So is Eritrea; Isaias Afwerki has been its only president since 1993. 

As of 2023, fifty-nine countries had authoritarian governments. These countries contain 40% of the world's population - two out of every five people on Earth. 

 Partial totalitarianism 
Other countries have had dictatorships which never reached full totalitarianism. At various times, many Latin American countries have had dictatorships with some aspects of totalitarianism.  Some African countries (like Zimbabwe) have been dictatorships for long periods. 

The satire Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell was about a totalitarian society taken to extremes.

 Purpose 
Some historians say that authoritarianism "does not attempt to change the world and human nature". Instead, a totalitarian regime attempts to control all aspects of people's lives, including the economy, education, art, science, private life, and its citizens' morals.Carl Friedrich and Z.K. Brzezinski 1967. Totalitarian dictatorship and autocracy. Harvard University Press.

Related pages
 Syria
 Nazism
 Fascism
 Stalinism
 Theocracy
 Adolf Hitler
 Ante Pavelić
 Dictatorship
 Antisemitism
 Communism
 Joseph Stalin
 Khmer Rouge
 Ion Antonescu
 The Holocaust
 Authoritarianism
 Bosnian Genocide
 Cambodian Genocide

 References 

Category:Forms of government
Category:Political ideologies