What is the difference between authoritarian and totalitarian?

Answer 1

An authoritarian regime is a system where power is concentrated in the hands of a non-elected or pseudo-elected elite/bureaucracy acting discretionary and with no or little regards for rule of law or individual rights of any kind. In an authoritarian regime, ideology is not a main driving force of society (even if it is present), and while freedom is severely curtailed, some limited arenas of expression typically survive. Examples of authoritarian regimes: Tunisia, Egypt, Russia, Kazakhstan, Burma...

A totalitarian regime is a system where power and society are subsumed to an ideology. The state tries to control and regulate all the actions (and thoughts) of its citizens in accordance to that ideology, eliminating anybody who is against it. The power of the state over its citizens becomes total, as does the power of ideology. Examples of totalitarian regimes: USSR (between the 1920s and the early 1980s, but especially in the 1930s and 1940s, with communism as their main ideology), Nazi Germany (following fascism and national-socialism), Italy in the 1920s and 1930s (following fascism), North Korea (with juche communism as their main ideology).

Answer 2

Totalitarian regimes control all aspects of life. There is no such thing as pluralism or mobilization in the regime. There are only 2 sorts of regimes so far: communism under Stalin, and Fascist under Hitler, not Mussolini.

All aspects of life: therefore, controlling culture, economy, education, family, friends, and morals/beliefs.

Communism: They have this Utopian Ideology that they follow to make things right. They look toward the future rather than the past.

While Fascist/Nazis: they look toward the "glorious" past until the scapegoats: in this case the jews, messed things up

and also, Nazis built on an ideology that agrarian race is superior, all other races are inferior!

Authoritarian regimes: there is some sort of pluralism, but there can only be one sort of pluralism, if there is political pluralism, then there can't be social pluralism and vice versa. There can also be a little bit of mobilization, yet they can't protest against gov't or the law

Answer 3

Authoritarianism is a form of government in which power is concentrated in the hands of a single ruler or a small group, with limited political freedoms for citizens. Totalitarianism, on the other hand, is a more extreme form of authoritarianism where the government seeks to control all aspects of public and private life, often through Propaganda, censorship, and suppression of dissent. Totalitarian regimes tend to be more repressive and intrusive than authoritarian ones.

Answer 4

Authoritarianism is a more general form of political system, featuring centralized control over many aspects of the daily life in a society. Totalitarianism is simply a more extreme form of this, featuring even more control and less individual freedom.