Category talk:Military dictatorships

Totalitarian states cat
IP may have violated 3RR, but they do raise a good point. Not all the regimes listed involve totalitarian states — some were merely authoritarian. Is the cat really suitable in that context? El_C 03:32, 14 May 2019 (UTC)

Not really. The main article Totalitarianism distinguishes it from other forms of authoritarian regimes:
 * "Totalitarian regimes are different from other authoritarian ones. The latter denotes a state in which the single power holder – an individual "dictator", a committee or a junta or an otherwise small group of political elite – monopolizes political power. "[The] authoritarian state [...] is only concerned with political power and as long as that is not contested it gives society a certain degree of liberty". Authoritarianism "does not attempt to change the world and human nature". In contrast, a totalitarian regime attempts to control virtually all aspects of the social life, including the economy, education, art, science, private life and morals of citizens. Some totalitarian governments may promote an elaborate ideology: "The officially proclaimed ideology penetrates into the deepest reaches of societal structure and the totalitarian government seeks to completely control the thoughts and actions of its citizens". It also mobilizes the whole population in pursuit of its goals. Carl Joachim Friedrich writes that "a totalist ideology, a party reinforced by a secret police, and monopoly control of [...] industrial mass society" are the three features of totalitarian regimes that distinguish them from other autocracies." Dimadick (talk) 13:58, 14 May 2019 (UTC)