KWARA STATE UNIVERSITY
NAME: TAOFIQAH TOPE ABDULKAREEM
KWASUMBA/1/2022/00087
COURSE TITTLE
COMPARATIVE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
COURSE CODE: MPA804
TOPIC: COMPARE TOTALITARISM AS A SYSTEM OF
GOVERNMENT WITH DEMOCRACY AS A SYSTEM.
LECTURER IN CHARGE
DR. ALABI ABDULLAHI
INTRODUCTION
There are different forms of governance throughout the world. However, broadly, they can be
categorized into 4 major types- monarchy, democracy, totalitarianism, and dictatorship.
Totalitarianism is a form of government that exercises complete political, economic, social,
cultural, and spiritual control over its subjects. A charismatic leader, or dictator, who controls
the one allowable political party, usually heads it. This form of rule requires complete
subordination of the individual to advance the interests of the state. People are made
dependent on the wishes and whims of the political party and its leader. The governments of
Italy & Nazi Germany was an example of a Fascist, totalitarian state. Its ideology and
practice included a racial theory that denigrated, persecuted, and murdered “non-Aryans,”
particularly Jews. It also advocated extreme nationalism that called for the unification of all
German-speaking peoples and required the centralization of decision-making by, and loyalty
to, a single, all-powerful leader. The centrally controlled economy enabled the government to
control its workers, making them dependent on the government. All workers were required to
possess a work permit, which could be withdrawn for offenses such as objecting to poor
working conditions. In a totalitarian dictatorship there is no legal means of effecting a change
of government. Civil rights and human rights are not guaranteed.
Democracy is a system of government in which ultimate political authority is vested in the
people. Representatives elected by popular suffrage (voting) exercise the supreme authority.
In democracies such as Nigeria and the United States, both the executive head of government
(president) and the legislature (Senate and House of Representatives) are elected. The powers
of government are based on the consent of the governed. Groups or institutions typically
exercise the democratic theory in a complex system of interactions that involve compromises
and bargaining in the decision process. The major features of a modern democracy include
government only by the consent of the governed, individual freedom guaranteed by a
constitution, equality before the law, which maintains that all persons are created equal with
minority rights protected, universal suffrage, and education for all. Citizens are free to join
any political party, union, or other legal group if they choose. Elected representatives may be
supplanted by the electorate according to the legal procedures of recall and referendum, and
they are, at least in principle, responsible to the electorate. Citizens retain the right to alter or
abolish a government that becomes destructive and form a new government. There are no
paramilitary organizations sanctioned by the government to suppress those citizens who voice
opposition to the government. The cornerstones of democracy are freedom of speech,
freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion.
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Comparison between Totalitarianism as a system of
government with democracy as a system.
DEMOCRACY
‘’According to Abraham Lincoln, he define democracy as Government of the people, by the
people and for the people’’ Democracy is aptly described by this slogan. This form of
government is currently the most popular form of government. This form of government
allows its citizens to elect representatives who will be assuming power and making all the
decisions for the country. This form of government works on the principle that the citizens
should have the power and the right to decide who can make decisions that would affect their
lives. This is the main crux of democracy. The leaders are chosen on the basis of majority
that is whoever gets the maximum number of votes wins the election.
CHARACTERISTICS OF DEMOCRACY
1. Majority rule
All the decisions taken are in accordance with the majority. Starting from electing a party into
power to the government deciding policies and laws for the country, everything happens with
a majority rule. This further ensures that since the majority of the people agree on a particular
thing, it will be beneficial for the people at large.
2. Elections
The main element of democratic governance is the way in which the elections are conducted.
All the adult citizens of the country are allowed to vote and choose a party which according
to them should form the government. This characteristic gives every eligible citizen the right
to vote and choose the representative who will represent them.
3. The pillars of democracy
Democracy rests on three important pillars- the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary.
All three are independent of each other. This helps them maintain transparency. The core
function of the legislative is to make laws that will govern the nation. The executive has to
implement the laws made by the legislature. The judiciary is expected to interpret the law and
uphold it. Further, it is kept independent of the government so as to make the functioning of
the judiciary transparent. The judiciary also has the power to punish anyone who violates the
law. The judiciary can further declare any laws made by the legislation or any act of the
executive done to implement the laws as unconstitutional if it is not in accordance with the
Constitution.
4. Law and justice
Everyone is subjected to the same law and the same justice delivery system. There are no
biases or preferences given to anyone. All the citizens are equal before the law and treated
equally. Law is considered to be supreme. No one is above the law.
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5. Rights and freedom
The citizens enjoy various rights. One of the most widely accepted rights is the Right to
Freedom of Speech and Expression. Under this right, the citizens can voice their opinion even
if that is contrary to that of the government. This gives birth to free media and press. Free
media and the press have the power to throw light on the functioning of the government and
its effectiveness. This helps the citizens to analyze if the government is working properly or
not.
6. Diversity
Democracy respects all religions equally and does not promote or propagate any one religion.
A democratic country will often have a multilingual population thriving in its territory. A
democratic country will, therefore, give its citizens the Right to Religion, that is, they can
practice and profess any religion.
7. Decentralization
The powers of the government are not concentrated on one hand; rather it is distributed to
various branches and sub-branches of the government. The power vests in a decentralized
manner among the officials. In a decentralized system, smaller governing bodies are formed
who have the power to take political decisions at the local level for their jurisdiction. Political
decentralization seeks to address societal issues by handing the citizens increased power
through an elected representative government.
ADVANTAGES OF DEMOCRACY
Too much power in the hands of one or few leads to misuse of power or overburden of
responsibilities. Democracy prevents these. With its decentralized mechanism, it creates
authorities at every level who have some powers to make decisions. This makes work
efficient and also creates fewer burdens on the top authorities. The work of the lower
authorities is reviewed periodically by the higher authorities.
Moreover, the top authorities taking decisions for the country do not know what people at
different levels need. These local authorities have direct contact with the people of their
jurisdiction. They also understand the local, political, social, and economical needs and
aspects of the area. The local bodies can, therefore, represent the interests of the people at
various levels and help the centre make better decisions.
Democracy has a good „checks and balances‟ mechanism. The citizens of the country are the
ones who mark the government and decide if they are working in accordance with the needs
of the society and how effective are the decisions and the policies that they come out with.
Such a mechanism is facilitated by the freedom of the press, yet another feature of
democracy. If the citizens dislike the work of the government, they have the option to not
vote for that party again. This very fear of not being in power again makes the government
work to the best of their capabilities. This, in turn, helps the citizens and the country grows.
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DISADVANTAGES OF DEMOCRACY
Like every coin has two sides, the very advantage of a democratic government has a
disadvantage too. Distribution of power is an advantage that the citizens of a democratically
functioning nation enjoy. The same distribution of power has a flip side as well.
When powers are divided, all the people having powers are included in the decision-making
process. This might delay the process since everyone will have a different perspective and
each of them will like the inclusion of their perspective in the decisions that are taken. In
order to do so, they might keep on opposing the proposed decisions until they feel that their
perspective is also considered. While this is good in a way as it ensures that a wholesome
decision is taken, it delays the decision-making process that might take a toll when it comes
to making urgent decisions.
Areas that are developing and need to be urgently monitored or legally backed up, delay in
decision making, and coming up with viable solutions can be harmful and bad for society in
general.
TOTALITARIANISM
‘’all within the state, none outside the state, none against the state’ ‟Totalitarianism is aptly
described by this slogan. This form of government controls all aspects of the personal and
private life of its citizens. The totalitarian state pursues some special goal, such as
industrialization, and in the bit of attaining that goal, it excludes all others. All resources are
directed toward its attainment, regardless of the cost. Whatever might further the goal is
supported; whatever might hinder the attainment of the goal, be it the something as crucial as
human development as social beings, is rejected. This obsession gives birth to an ideology
that explains everything in terms of the goal, rationalizing all obstacles that may arise and all
forces that may contend with the state. Any dissent is branded evil, and internal political
differences are not permitted because the pursuit of the goal is the only ideological
foundation for the totalitarian state.
CHARACTERISTICS OF TOTALITARIANISM
1. Creation of an ideology
The totalitarian regime creates an ideology and makes its citizens accept it, either willingly or
forcefully. This ideology makes the nation achieve its goal. But this ideology is rigid and has
no flexibility. The ideology does not consider the life of its citizens and is of an intruding
nature. The ideology outlines the life of its citizens and often restricts them from doing
anything outside the scope of the designated outline. The ideology further attempts to
establish discipline but little does it consider that the discipline that it seeks to establish
intervenes with their private and personal interests.
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2. Attainment of goals
Totalitarianism is driven by the attainment of goals that are set by such a government. If the
aim is to boost the economy, all the policies will be framed to achieve this. But, this generally
neglects the interests of the citizens and supersedes the same. Though the goal is attained, it is
attained at the cost of loss of interest of its citizens.
3. Control citizens
When citizens find it difficult to comply with the totalitarian ideology, they start to rebel
against it. At this point, terror is used to controlling them. Acts of violence and forms of
terror speed up across the nation and the fear so instilled in the minds of the citizens coerce
them to comply with the ideology. Controlling citizens is important for the totalitarian regime
to achieve its set objective.
4. Intolerance
Totalitarian regimes do not tolerate dissenting or even alternative views. Those who promote
such views are usually dealt with very harshly. There is little independent media in a
totalitarian state; every TV channel, radio station, and newspaper is merely a state
mouthpiece used to further indoctrinate society. There are no elections since opposing views
are illegal. Such regimes also control all means of communication. Emails, letters, and phone
calls, for example, are closely monitored so that opposition can be wiped out before it
spreads.
5. Planned economy
An unregulated economy is a danger to totalitarian power, so every aspect of the state
economy is planned. Farmers are told how much of and which crop to plant, while private
enterprise if it exists at all, is very closely regulated to suit the needs of the state. The goal is
constant economic growth (or at least stability) so that the public is kept content and the
regime‟s ruling measures are sustained. This impacts the economy positively since everything
is planned and the resources are utilized accordingly.
Diagram illustrating characteristics of totalitarianism
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ADVANTAGES OF TOTALITARIANISM
Totalitarianism envisages a goal and makes all possible attempts to accomplish it. This keeps
their economy growing and the nation progressing. These governments take up small
problematic sectors and try to fix the issues. This helps them resolve all the discrepancies
efficiently and effectively. When the goal is determined, all the policies and rules that the
government comes up with deals with the attainment of such goals. Thus, swift and quick
progress is witnessed.
This regime also does not allow opposite views to thrive. This ensures that there are no
hurdles in the accomplishment of the set goals and there is also no delay in doing so. This not
only develops the country but also increases the standard of living of the citizens.
DISADVANTAGES OF TOTALITARIANISM
Like mentioned earlier, the advantages can also have a disadvantage. The very regime of
setting up goals and achieving it has a negative side. While setting up targets and achieving
them makes the country grow, it leaves its citizens with no privacy.
In order to achieve the set goals, the totalitarian government adopts measures and policies
that control the private and personal life of the citizens. They do not give any freedom of
choice to the citizens and if they try to voice their opinions against the government, they are
suppressed by terror. Such governments also do not give any kind of freedom to its press and
media by monitoring all its content. If the government finds any content that is inappropriate
(against them), they are not allowed to run that content over the television.
Citizens in these countries do not have any choice and all their private and personal decisions
are subject to the hindrances of the government.
CONCLUSION
Every form of governance is unique to its own self. Each one of them has their own sets of
glories and pitfalls. The point to be accounted for is, the weightage and the extent of the pros
and cons of each form so as to understand which one is a better form of government. It is
crucial to know which form of government is better.
To start with, let us come to terms with the fact that none of the two discussed above is
perfect, and adopting either will have a certain kind of negative impact. If the pros and cons
of both the forms are considered, the choice between freedom of the citizens along with non-
hindrance in their private life and growth of the country along with its development has to be
considered.
On one hand, a democratic form of distribution of powers can ensure effective decisions and
on the other hand, the policy of adopting a certain target and achieving it can ensure better
and faster progress of the country.
If we analyze the characteristics of both the forms, we can see that a democracy with a little
change can deliver the privacy and freedom of citizens along with the growth and
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development of the country. For this, it has to adopt two of the characteristics of the
totalitarian regime, that is- the attainment of a goal and a planned economy as described in
this article. But, this adoption should not be rigid; it should have a more liberal approach. In
this way, the citizens will also be happy and the country will also progress.
A liberal approach means that the government should have due respect for its citizens‟
privacy and should not dictate the terms of their decisions in order to achieve its goal. Goals
can be achieved through effective legislation. Democracy is capable of producing such
effective legislation with its feature of decentralization of powers. The local bodies can
identify the problems persisting in their jurisdiction and come up with solutions accordingly.
Such solutions can be monitored and altered by the Central government from time to time.
Further, if the top authorities feel that the issue needs more attention, it can step in and
regulate.
In this way, citizens are also happy and the country all climbs the ladder of progress. Thus,
the suggestion would be to adopt democracy along with these certain features of
totalitarianism to make the system of governance efficient and effective.
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REFERENCES
Aron, Raymond; Ionescu, Valence (1968), Democracy and totalitarianism, Weidenfeld and
Nicolson, ISBN 978-0-297-76311-6
Karl August Wittfogel (1981), Oriental despotism a comparative study of total power (1st
Vintage Books ed.), New York Vintage Books, ISBN 978-0-394-74701-9
Karl Marx (1970), a contribution to the critique of political economy, New York International
Publishers, ISBN 978-0-7178-0042-1
https://www.marketing.com/characteristics-of-democracy/
https://classroom.synonym.com/listing-characteristics-totalitarian-government-14893.html
https://greengarageblog.org/16-significant-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-democracy
https://www.britannica.com/topic/totalitarianism
