What Is the Difference between a Democracy and a Totalitarian Government?

Different systems of government use their powers in very different ways.

Countries and nations are ruled by systems of government. These systems of government run the gamut from extremely permissive and open to extremely controlling and dictatorial. On opposite ends of this spectrum are democracy and totalitarianism, two systems of government that adopt very different tactics toward dealing with dissent, citizens' desires and relations with external entities and neighboring countries.

Derivation of Power

A key difference between a democracy and a totalitarian state is how the governing party or parties derive their power. In a democracy, the power to govern ultimately comes from the citizens being governed, through the elections of candidates to governmental office. Likewise, democracy places great importance on listening to the people being governed and acting according to their wishes. In a totalitarian state, the government may or may not justify its power in terms of being derived from the wishes of the governed. In extreme cases, totalitarian governments may act in direct opposition to the will of the governed.

Allowance for Dissent

Democracies, by their nature as governments existing by the consent of the governed, must allow for dissent and disagreement among both the governed and those in power. This results in open and free press and news publications and citizens who are able to communicate freely among themselves. In contrast, totalitarian governments do not allow dissent. Totalitarian governments hold their positions and ideologies as being unarguably correct. Indeed, those who do show signs of dissent are often punished by jail time, torture or death.

Political Parties

The result of democracies deriving their power from the will of the governed, along with allowing dissent, generally results in the formation of political parties. These parties, consisting of like-minded individuals, use the power of their numbers to make arguments in favor of their positions. Meanwhile, in totalitarian governments, there is one single party that makes all decisions and enacts all policies. The single party is often pushed as being indistinguishable from the country or the state itself, a way in which totalitarian governments attempt to portray themselves as speaking for the people they govern, whether that is true or not.

Examples of Democracies and Totalitarian States

The United States, England and Japan are all examples of various forms of democracies. Each has built a democratic system in slightly different fashion, but all maintain the core tenants of democracy, allow for elections and have an open and free press. The most powerful example of historical totalitarian governments were Nazi German and Soviet Russia. In each case, a strong single party held complete control over the government, limiting dissent and enforcing their views on the governed. North Korea is one of the most powerful remaining totalitarian states.

References

• Dadalos Education Server: Democracy: Differentiating between Dictatorsips
• George Orwell: Totalitarian Regimes
• Difference Between: Democracy and Totalitarianism
• Democracy Building: Systems of Democracy
• The History Guide: The Age of Totalitarianism - Stalin and Hitler
• BBC News: North Korea country profile

Resources

• World History Site: A Brief History of Government