1. All aspects of individual and social life are considered to be the political concern of the government and fit for regulation. The economy, in particular, is centrally directed and managed. It is not left to individual initiative or market forces.
2. One party is politically dominant. All legitimate political activity is channel through this party, which is normally highly centralized, and the party provides the only institutionalized basis for competition, recruitment and opposition.
3. There is an official ideology (normally either Marxist-Leninism or Fascism) which is upheld by the ruling single party and which, in theory, regulates all governmental decisions and political activity within the system.
4. The judiciary and the mass media are rigidly controlled by the government and, in the latter case, are expected to “indoctrinate” the people in the official ideology. Civil liberties, as defined in liberal democracies, are seriously curtailed.
5. Terror is used, where necessary, to enforce obedience and suppress criticism.