Totalitarian political regimes are a whole system of methods, techniques and methods for exercising two types of power - political and state. Their character is never directly indicated in the constitution of a state, but is reflected in their content in the most vivid way.
The concept of political regime in society
In general, this term appeared in scientific circles in the second half of the 20th century. It was used along with concepts such as the "political system" and the "relationship of power with civil society." There are several varieties of these modes:
- authoritarian,
- totalitarian,
- democratic.
Political regimes differ from each other on the basis of many factors. Among them:
- essence of the state and its form;
- legislative character;
- powers vested in state bodies;
- economic forces;
- the history of the people, their traditions;
- standards and living standards of the population.
General characteristics of the political regime
Any (including totalitarian) political regimes are determined by a peculiar form of government. They should be distinguished from state regimes, since they cannot do without methods of struggle and methods of exercising political power that come not only from the state, but also from one or another political party or public organization. In addition, any political regime is characterized by certain relations between civil society and the state, as well as the freedoms and rights of individuals with a realistic possibility of their implementation. More specifically, we are interested in totalitarianism. Let's consider some signs of this mode.
Signs of a totalitarian political regime
- This political regime is entirely based on the following methods of forcing a person: ideological, mental, physical. In other words, for such a regime, a characteristic feature is the forced coercion of the state’s population to one or another public order, the models of which are developed by a single political ideology.
- Party and state bodies in most cases merge with each other, forming an integral system of human control.
- Totalitarian political regimes on the basis of a law (nominally) establish a variety of gradations of human rights.
- There is no separation of powers, and there are no local governments. In other words, under such a regime, a monopoly on the power of a certain political party, headed by a leader, with its spiritual and ideological values that affect the character of the whole state, acts. The whole state is subordinate to one party, which, in turn, holds the media and the press "in the air".
- The rights and freedoms of most citizens are virtually absent, everything is imbued with the cult of personality (remember the reign of Joseph Stalin).
In addition, totalitarian political regimes in society are characterized by the following distinctive features:
- constant and strict control of all spheres of society;
- the ruling elite is endowed with bottomless privileges; nobody controls it;
- constant mass repression;
- very strict censorship in the media;
- economic management becomes centralized bureaucratic.
