Democracy and Totalitarianism

Democracy and totalitarianism are at different ends of a

political dimension

Democracy
o o o o Citizens should be involved in decision Representative democracy Citizens select individuals to represent them Elected representatives form government Representatives who fail to perform this job will be voted out

To ensure the accountability of elected representatives an ideal democracy enshrines a number of safeguards, which includes 1. Individuals right to freedom of expression, opinion and organization 2. Free media 3. Regular elections 4. Universal adult suffrage 5. Limited terms for system 6. Nonpolitical state bureaucracy

7. Nonpolitical police and armed force 8. Fair court system 9. Relatively free access to state information

Totalitarianism
o o o o o o All the constitutional guarantees are denied to citizens Political repression is widespread Fair elections are lacking Media heavily censored Basic civil liberties are denied No one can question the rulers

Forms of totalitarianism
Four major forms of totalitarianism exist
Communist Totalitarianism o Communism is in decline since 1989 o China, Vietnam, Laos, North Korea, Cuba exhibits communist partys monopoly o They deny many basic civil liberties

 Theocratic Totalitarianism
o Party, group, individual governs according to religious principles monopolizes political power o Most common form is based on Islam and exemplified by states such as Iran and Saudi Arabia o They limit freedom of political and religious expression with laws based on Islamic principles

 Tribal Totalitarianism
o It has arisen from time to time in African countries o Typical African country contains number of tribes o Political party represents the interests of a particular tribe(not always the majority tribe) monopolize power

 Right-Wing Totalitarianism
o Generally permits some individual economic freedom but restricts individual political freedom o Government backed by military and in some cases made up of military officers o Until early 1980s the right-wing dictatorships were common throughout Latin America o Also found in several Asian countries