Totalitarian Society: The Case of North Korea and Human Rights

This essay provides an analysis of North Korea as a totalitarian society, highlighting key characteristics such as state control over communication, single-party rule by the Workers' Party of Korea, government control of the economy, and the use of terror tactics. It examines how the North Korean government, under leaders like Kim Jong Un, restricts individual freedom and subordinates citizens' lives to the authority of the state. The essay discusses the absence of ideal citizens who can contribute to societal development and the lack of meaningful elections, leading to voter apathy. Furthermore, it explores the restrictions on freedom of speech and movement, as well as the increasing militarization and border security, which have led to citizens escaping the country. The essay concludes that, despite claims of economic improvement, North Korea severely limits the social and political freedom of its citizens, making it a clear example of a totalitarian government.

Running head: TOTALITARIAN SOCIETY 1
Totalitarian Society
Name
Institution

TOTALITARIAN SOCIETY 2
Introduction
In 1948, the world came together, and through United Nations assembly registered a huge
milestone on human rights through The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Upon this
declaration, all the societies were expected to recognize the dignity and inalienable rights of all
individuals as the foundation of freedom, peace, and justice in the world. The states, through
their governments, were expected to be the custodians of human rights. However, since then
certain governments have not heeded to the plea of the declaration and instead, have continued to
violate human rights. This explains why totalitarian regimes such as North Korea still have had a
space in today’s society.
The totalitarian government is presented through many forms the common ones being
stated control over the means of communication, single-party rule, economy being totally
controlled by the government, police use of terror tactics and force to control citizens and the
military control of the state (McNeil, 2015). North Korea, as a totalitarian society, is endowed
with the above features. The leadership of North Korea does not uphold individual freedom, and
the lives of the citizens have been subordinated to the authority of the state. From the perspective
of a nation aims at controlling all aspects of the citizens’ lives, North Korea is an ideal example
of a totalitarian society. The government does not provide a space for the nurturing of the ideal
citizens who would help the state to achieve its economic, social, and political goals. Ideal
citizen participates in society and community development (Magstadt, 2016). Since almost all
aspects are under the control of the government, the ideal citizens cannot develop to higher
political positions where they can improve society for others.
North Korea can be said to be a single party state since the dominant party, Workers’
Party of Korea (WPK) has been ruling since 1948. Like his successors, the current leader, Kim

TOTALITARIAN SOCIETY 3
Jong of North Korea has turned out to be brutal, and elections in the country have lost meaning,
The consequences of voter apathy in North Korea are not witnessed because perhaps the policies
force people to vote despite that there are not the choice of candidates for parliamentary
elections. Ideally, the voter apathy involves lack of interest to participate in the election by a
particular of voters as put forward by Magstadt (2016), but this has not been the case in the
totalitarian regime of North Korea. Even though the current government has allowed economic
freedom, the state has devised ways to control the citizens (Fifield, 2017). The state controls
almost all the social and economic aspects of the citizens. For example, freedom of speech in the
country is still unachievable dream. The freedom of movement, especially to the outside of the
country, has been further made hard for increased military border security. The reports as
presented by Tiersky (2018) shows that citizens have been escaping the country since they are
disillusioned and as such, they fear the totalitarian regime being propagated by the state, they are
unable to achieve their educational, economic goals as well their speech is being restricted.
Conclusion
North Korea presents a perfect example of the totalitarian government. Although the state
pretends to be working towards improving the economic status of the citizens, it has restricted
the social and political freedom of the citizens. The country has been militarized with increasing
sealing of the borders. The WPK part has been ruling since 1948 without signs of any other party
ascending to power.

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References
Fifield, A. (2017, Nov 17). Life Under Kim Jong Un. Retrieved from Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/world/north-korea-defectors/?
utm_term=.483f7aac533a
Magstadt, T. M., (2016). Understanding Politics: Ideas, Institutions, and Issues (12 ed.). Boston:
Cengage Learning.
McNeil, A., (2015). Identity and Agency in Totalitarian Regimes. Writing Excellence Award
Winners, 1-8.
Tiersky, R., (2018, April 26). The Real North Korea Problem. Retrieved from RealClear World:
https://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2018/04/26/the_real_north_korea_problem_11
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