What is totalitarianism?

Totalitarianism is a type of governance and a political system that forbids all opposition
parties, criminalizes individual and collective defiance of the state and its claims, and
imposes a severe level of control and restriction on both public and private life.
The four main types of totalitarianism are:
1. Communist totalitarianism: supports an establishing totalitarian dictatorship in order to
achieve communism.
2. Theocratic totalitarianism: a party, group, or individual that rules in accordance with
religious beliefs centralises political power.
3. Tribal totalitarianism: The cartelization of power by a political party that serves the
interests of a specific tribe.
4. Right-wing authoritarianism, which allows individual economic freedom but restricts
individual political freedom because of concern that it would result in communism.

How does totalitarianism differ from authoritarianism?

Individual freedom of thought and conduct is discouraged under both types of government.
While authoritarianism prefers the obedience of its population to authority, totalitarianism
seeks to achieve this through imposing complete control over the lives of its citizens. While
totalitarian states tend to have a highly developed guiding ideology, authoritarian states
usually do not. While authoritarian authorities will accept some social organisations based on
customs or particular interests, totalitarian nations prohibit traditional social structures.
Unlike totalitarian states, authoritarian states lack the ability to organise the entire community
in the service of national objectives, and any acts done by the state are often within fairly
predictable bounds.