Totalitarianism Essay: State Control, Tyranny, and Dictatorship

This essay delves into the core of totalitarianism, emphasizing the role of violence and state control in suppressing citizens' rights. It defines totalitarianism as a reaction against democracy and socialism, highlighting the tyrannical and dictatorial traits of its leaders, exemplified by figures like Adolf Hitler. The essay discusses how totalitarian regimes restrict economic, political, and social freedoms, including freedom of speech and cultural rights. It illustrates how leaders in totalitarian states impose their interests, ignoring citizen welfare, and create impediments to democratic participation. The essay concludes by summarizing the various rights curtailed under totalitarianism, underscoring the emergence of dictatorship from such political systems. The essay references academic sources to support its claims.

Running head: TOTALITARIANISM
TOTALITARIANISM
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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In This study will discuss about the crux of a totalitarian state, which is violence. Further
this study will use the concept of Totalitarian theory to demonstrate the way State as well as
leaders put several restrictions on the citizens, so that they cannot claim for their own rights.
The concept of a Totalitarian society is based on the anti-liberal as well as anti-
democratic faith in reason (Griffin, 2013). In other words, it can be stated that Totalitarianism is
actually, the a reaction or response against the concept of democracy as well as socialism. The
leadership traits observed among the leaders, in the Totalitarian State, is similar to the tyranny as
well as dictatorship. As per the definition provided by Aristotle, Tyranny can be considered as
an illegitimate image of a government created by a leader to gain control over the lives of people
as well as government of a country. One of such notorious tyrant is Adolf Hitler. Again, Griffin,
(2013), defines dictatorship as the act of imposing the power of ruling the citizens of a country
without the consent of the citizens who are being ruled.
Leaders in a totalitarian country have the sole power of controlling all the aspects associated with
the State-economic, social, political as well as cultural. Leaders in the Totalitarian State tend to
be tyrant (Hanley, 2013). They tend to be dictator as the same time. From the above discussion,
it can be stated that, leaders in totalitarian state do not allow the citizens of the State to exercise
their economic rights, the rights to participate in a political events as well as the the election or
voting process, or, the process of selecting their leaders on their own. Moreover, the anti-
democratic leaders in a totalitarian state tend to impose their own rule, for the purpose of
achieving their own interests. In this case, the interest of the citizens are ignored. Even if,
citizens of the country face several issues to follow the rules which are basically imposed by the
totalitarian government as well as the leaders forcefully. Again, the citizens in a totalitarian
country are not allowed to exercise freedom of speech as one of their rights. They cannot share ,

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their opinion freely against the totalitarian government or leader. If they attempt to do so, they
are penalized (Baehr & Richter, 2004). In this way the dominant leaders in a totalitarian state
create several impediments so that the citizens cannot exercise their democratic rights, rights to
vote, freedom of speech. Along with this the economic, cultural as well as social rights of the
citizens are curbed. One of the harsh instances of tyrant leadership is the strict oppose of cultural
diversity, and racial discrimination fostered by Hitler. This evidenced the fact that leaders in a
totalitarian State do not even allow people from other culture or race to celebrate their cultural
rituals or festivals and enjoy their cultural rights (Simon, 2019).
Hence, in the conclusion, it can be stated that, leaders in a totalitarian State do not allow
the citizens to exercise their political, economic, democratic, social as well as cultural rights.
Thus a totalitarian political system gives birth to dictatorship.

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References
Baehr, P., & Richter, M. (2004). Dictatorship in history and theory: Bonapartism, Caesarism,
and totalitarianism. German Historical Institute and Cambridge University Press.
Griffin, R. (Ed.). (2013). Fascism, totalitarianism and political religion. Routledge.
Hanley, C. (2013). Towards a new privacy: Totalitarianism, emotion and management
discourse. Management in education, 27(4), 146-149.
Simon, G. (2019). Nationalism and Policy toward the Nationalities in the Soviet Union: From
Totalitarian Dictatorship to Post-Stalinist Society. Routledge.