The condition of a state in which the government tries to control every aspect of life, usually characterized by:

• 1. One-party state (no voters' choice)
• 2. secret police and Concentration Camps
• 3. prohibition of autonomous associations (churches, clubs, parties, trade unions)
• 4. control of culture, information and opinion

Twentieth century examples:

• Bolshevik Russia and Soviet Union ;
• Nazi Germany;
• Fascist Italy;
• Francoist Spain ;
• Ba'athist Iraq and Syria;
• Shi'ite Iran(only partially) ;
• North Korea and
• other Communist states.

Pre-20th century examples:

• 16th century Spain (Inquisition)
• 17th century Anabaptist Munster (religion)
• 17th century New England (religion, witches)
• Later Roman Empire - Religion

Some of the aspects of totalitarianism can appear in apparently democratic societies:

• Switzerland : the attempt to end Gypsy culture by taking their children and fostering them in non-Gypsy families (1920s, 1930s.)
• United States : paranoia about Communists (1940s, 1950s - McCarthy, 1960s); FBI under J.Edgar Hoover.

The Science Fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein characterized it as a state of affairs in which "everything that was not forbidden is compulsory".