ULLSTEIN BILD

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini coined the term totalitario, meaning “All within the state, none outside the state, none against the state.” Totalitarian regimes prohibit life outside the state. Authoritarian regimes allow some free space, but none for politics. Quasi-democratic regimes have a semblance of democratic institutions, but they are weak and corrupted. Only democracies have institutions that are resilient enough to protect their people’s rights in the long run.