Since ancient times the humanity has been searching for the most perfect form of the social organization. These forms are changing with the development of the society.
All the components of the political system, such as the political parties, the social agencies, the workers associations are significantly affected by the government. At the same time there is a mutual dependence, as the government is influenced by the socio-political environment. Depending on the different criteria there may be distinguished several kinds of the political regimes. These kinds are presented by the wide range of the political methods of power. The authoritarian regime may exist in different forms. But in any form of the totalitarianism the governmental power is not controlled by the people. The totalitarianism is the variety of the authoritarian regime.
Such a notion as the totalitarianism appeared at the end of the 20s of the XX century, when some political experts had been trying to distinguish the difference between the socialist state and the democratic one.
Usually, under the notion of totalitarianism it is understood such a political regime, which is based on the intention of the government to subdue the lifestyle of people to one supreme idea and to organize the political system of power for the realization of this idea.
The totalitarian regime is characterized by the existence of only one official ideology. In such a case the power and the people are viewed as the unified whole. The ideology of the regime is predetermined by the decision of its political leader and may change at his will.
The totalitarian regime presupposes the existence of only one dominant party, while all the others should be prohibited and destroyed. The dominant party is announced to be the driving force of the society, and all its decisions are viewed as the sacred laws.
Communism is the form of the totalitarianism, which possesses in a full manner all the peculiarities of this regime. The private property is eliminated and in such a case the basis of the individualism is destroyed.
The economic foundation of the soviet type communism was the administrative system built on the governmentalization of the means of production, on the directive planning and pricing, and on the liquidation of the basis of the market. In the USSR this system arose during the processes of the industrialization and the collectivization. The single-party political system was formed in the 20s and at the same time the copulation of the party and state apparatus took place.
The discussions and the considerations, all the elements of the party democracy became a thing of the past. The communist party was the only legal political organization. The Soviet, which formally was the main body of the proletarian dictatorship, was functioning under the control of the party. All important decisions had been made by the Political Bureau, and upon that they were adopted by the governmental decrees. The leading representatives of the party occupied the leading posts in the government. The communist party controlled all the spheres of the social life.
The spiritual basis of the totalitarian society in the USSR was the official ideology the principles of which were simple and clear. They were penetrated into the consciousness of the people by means of slogans, songs, poems and citations of the political leaders. The slightest deviations from the Soviet principles were inadmissible. The ideological purity of the citizens was secured by means of the repressions.
Stalins personality cult was one of the major elements of the totalitarianism. This cult was the vertex of the pyramid of the communism (Malia, 1994).
In the 30s the repressions against dissentients reached the peak. They were the weapon by means of which the totalitarian society struggled against the real and the supposed opposition, inspired fear and submission. The terror had also the economic effect. Millions of prisoners worked on the soviet industrial projects, contributing the economic power of the country (Courtois, 1994).
One of the most extreme form of the totalitarianism is the fascism, which is characterized by the nationalist ideology and by the belief in the supremacy of one nation over others. Fascism is based on the necessity of the strong and ruthless power, which is achieved by the overall supremacy of the dominant power and the cult of the leader (Lyons, 1995).
The fascism is the ultra-right political movement that has appeared in the atmosphere of the revolutionary processes in the countries of the Western Europe after the World War I. Established for the first time in Italy in 1922, by the end of 30s the fascist regimes had been set in Italy, Germany, Portugal, Spain and the whole row of other European countries.
As a rule the fascism is based on the nationalistic and racial ideology. The purpose of fascist state is announced to be the security of the national entity, the solutions of the geopolitical and social problems, the protection of the purity of the race (Communism vs. Fascism, 2015).
The main idea of the fascist theory is that people are not equal, their duties and rights depend upon the race they belong to. One nation is considered to be the basic, supreme and leading race in the world community and in such a way it deserves the better living conditions. Other nations may exist only as the flawed races and should be destroyed sooner or later.
Usually the fascist regimes appear upon the certain historical circumstances, when the impoverishment of the people or the social disorders of the society take place.
The militarization, the search of the foreign enemy, the inclination for the unleashing of wars, and as a result the military expansion are the peculiarities of the fascism that distinguish it from the other forms of the totalitarianism.
The fascist regime is characterized by the fusion of the government machine with the monopolies, by the military-bureaucratic centralism and by the cult of the leader.
The government of the fascist regime widens its functions in incredible manner and imposes control over all the aspects of the social and personal life. The constitutional rights of the citizens are either negated or completely abolished. The fascist right is the right of the individuals inequality in accordance with the criterion of the ethnic background.
The general disadvantage of the undemocratic totalitarian regimes is that they are not under the control of the people. It means that the character of the relationships between the people and these regimes depends upon the will of one person.
In ancient times the possible outrage of the rulers was diminished by the religious traditions and the monarchs education and breeding. Nowadays the impact of these factors is rather slight. That is why only the democratic form of rule is able to protect citizens from the governmental despotism.
Reference List
Communism vs. Fascism. (2015). Web.
Courtois, S. (1999). The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Web.
Lyons, M. (1995). What is Fascism? Some General Ideological Features. Web.
Malia, M. (1994). The Soviet Tragedy: A History of Socialism in Russia, 1917-1991. New York: Free Press. Web.