Totalitarianism Advantages And Disadvantages

Introduction
Two main types of states are distinguished namely Totalitarian states as well as Liberal Democratic States. Both these regime types differ greatly however both have their own set of advantages and disadvantages. Totalitarian states are usually closely associated with tyrannical form of rule. Totalitarianism is an all-encompassing system of political rule (Heywood,2013:269), this means that this regime type rules over all aspects of the lives of the people it governs. Liberal Democracy on the other hand is a regime type that is a representative Democracy in that it is run by the people for the people. Liberal Democracy is defined by the fact that those in power are placed there by fair elections held after a certain number of years. In as much as both these regime types differ greatly, both have in common

Totalitarianism is defined by that it seeks to politicize every aspect of social and personal existence, rather than to just suppress political opposition (Heywood,2013:269). Other examples of totalitarian states are Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s USSR. Totalitarianism involves persistent ideological manipulation and open brutality as well as propaganda. Totalitarianism is seen as an oppressive form of rule and has many disadvantages such as the abuse of power. In the words of Lord Acton (1834-1902) “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This leads to the exploitation of the population. This system of rule is also immoral in that people have little to no rights and we live in a society where it is believed that everyone deserves to have their own voice and opinion however this right is denied or revoked in a totalitarian state. The chance of rebellion is also a great disadvantage, the Roman Empire came to an end in this way, it is said: When injustice becomes Law, rebellion becomes a