Maria Rodriguez Moreno Intro To Political Science, POS105C13 10/22/17 Authoritarianism vs Totalitarianism Throughout history there has been many different types of government and regimes. There have been numerous examples of Authoritarian and Totalitarian regimes. Although there are some similarities between the two, there are also some key differences of how they come into power, who controls the political power, and how they control their people. In totalitarian regimes it is a member of the elite who is in power, it is near impossible to knock them out of power. The definition of what a totalitarian is as follows “the political system in which states attempt to have total control of its citizens.” (pg. 93) Roskin. Totalitarian societies are known to mold their societies to the ideal image of the ruler. Totalitarians seek to ensure that their citizens are conforming to government standards. In Totalitarian societies the people are meant to worship their leader because some people believe their leader has Godly qualities. A prime example of a Totalitarian leader …show more content…
Authoritarians implement fear to control their citizens, they will commit fraud in elections to ensure that they are able to remain in power, citizens are forced to pay taxes and obey the laws that their Dictator has implemented even though they have no say in making these laws. A modern-day example of an Authoritarian leader is Bashar al-Assad. Assad came into power due to his father and the baath party who came into power because of a 1963 military coup. He is a prime example of what it is to be an authoritarian lead because he has used election fraud, and intimidation to ensure that he will remain in power. Because Assad is a dictator and uses fear to rule his people, many of his citizens were afraid to go against his regime for fear that they would be