2 Contrasting forms of totalitarian rule are fascism and communism.

тоталитаризм (политический режим, для которого характерны диктатура, жестко централизованная власть и всеобщий контроль над всеми сторонами общественной и частной жизни членов общества; ассоциируется прежде всего с фашистскими и коммунистическими режимами)

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Totalitarianism is a modern form of authoritarianism. It could not exist without modern systems of mass information, communication and control. The term originated with Mussolini and refers to the totality of state control. A totalitarian regime encompasses all human activity. Hence for the individual a completely private social and cultural life is impossible. Civil society does not exist. The main features of totalitarianism are

1. a regime with clearly defined ambitious goals such as conquering the world and/or revolutionising society;

2. a mobilised society supervised, energised, exhorted and instructed by a single party and its activists;

3. an official doctrine of admonitory precepts, explanations of the past and prophecies for the future purveyed by the party (see Section Three

Totalitarianism was perhaps the main political innovation and leitmotif of the twentieth century. At one time there were about twenty such regimes in the world. Today there are only three China, Cuba and North Korea though others may be qualifying because the mobilising single party is a useful instrument for elitist rulers modernising their developing countries. To date, however, two main types of totalitarian regime have existed. Their goals and doctrines differed though they both ruled through the single party, an idea Mussolini borrowed from Lenin, and Hitler, who admired Mussolini, followed suit. But the goals and doctrines of the regimes are so different that Communist and Fascist parties can hardly behave in the same way. The primary party unit or cell of the Communist parties was intended to spread its message amongst the workers in agriculture and industry as part of the objective of establishing socialism. The units of the Fascist party were essentially platoons of a private army intended to secure compliance by discipline. Hence Fascist regimes are programmed to go into battle.

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The political reflections of Plato and Aristotle need to be read in the context of the history provided by Thucydides. Both philosophers reflect the widespread corruption and loss of confidence characteristic of their time. Plato, in commenting on the ignorance of democracy's political leaders, is appalled by the incompetence they show. He has no great admiration for the gifted amateur. Statesmanship is a disciplined calling: it depends on precise and full knowledge. All states are riven by a rivalry between those with property and those without; factionalism and partisanship are the inevitable consequences of the division between rich and poor. So long as extremes of wealth and poverty exist, Plato says, there can be no just society (Republic, Book VIII, 551f.). Democracy, by definition, must always be government by and for the many; the poor who lack property and birth will always control a democracy. Oligarchy, just as inevitably, must operate in the interest of the few who enjoy property and birth. Plato finds both democracy and oligarchy inherently unstable.

Plato, in the Republic, excludes the possibility that a just state can exist in which all citizens participate; he explicitly denies the Periclean ideal. In the States-man, he gives a six-fold categorization of states. Three depend on fidelity to the law; three are essentially lawless. The rule of an individual produces monarchy or tyranny, depending on whether or not the individual at the head is law-abiding; when a few rule, the results are aristocracy or oligarchy; when the many rule, democracy exists, but again of two kinds, depending on whether or not the popular rule is law-abiding. Democracy, Plato accepts as the best of the lawless states, but the least desirable of the law-abiding.

Democracy - the system of government where the people rule themselves

Liberal Democracy - A state where the people rule themselves but in addition the rights of the citizen are protected by law

open government

Government whose policy-making and decisions are open to inspection at any time. Access by citizens to government documents is total and not restricted by espionage laws, rules about confidentiality and the obstructions of officialdom. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION is merely part, though an important part, of this concept. Scandinavian countries and the USA are very 'open' systems, while Britain remains 'closed'

absolutism

A term used to describe monarchic rule which has no limitations. It can be regarded as the ancient form of AUTHORITARIANISM. Hence in Europe it is largely a pre-eighteenth century phenomenon though it lingered in Russia until the early nineteenth. The chief philosophers of absolutism were MACHIAVELLI (1469 1527), Bodin (1530 96) and HOBBES (1588 1679). They were all influenced by their experiences of indecision and civil strife and argued that it was necessary to have a strong monarch who imposed his will on his subjects. Another source of absolutist attitudes was the doctrine of 'legitimacy' which held that the king's right to rule was a consequence of the law of God. Hence some absolutist rulers claimed to have a religious sanction, giving their regime a flavour of theocracy. Some behaved in an arbitrary fashion. Typical absolutist monarchs were Ivan the Terrible (1530 84) of Russia, Ferdinand of Naples (1810 59), known as 'Bomba'.

They were opposed to change. When European monarchies became affected by the ENLIGHTENMENT they converted to Enlightened Despotism, a system maintaining monarchic rule, but diluting the authoritarianism with some respect for the law and not only encouraging economic development (which some absolutists like Czar Peter the Great 1672 - 1725 had done), but also promoting the improvement of rights of their subjects. Typical of them was Emperor Joseph II of Austro-Hungary (1780 - 90). Catherine II of Russia (1762 96) flirted with the ideas of the Enlightenment (among other more carnal attachments), but remained an absolutist in action.