According to Kirkpatrick, authoritarian regimes merely try to control and/or punish their subjects' behaviors, while totalitarian regimes moved beyond that into attempting to control the thoughts of their subjects, using not only propaganda, but brainwashing, re-education, widespread domestic espionage, and mass political repression based on state ideology.
Segundo Kirkpatrick, os réximes autoritarios soamente tratan de controlar e/ou castigar a conduta dos seus cidadáns, mentres que os réximes totalitarios van máis aló diso procurando controlar os pensamentos dos seus cidadáns, utilizando propaganda, lavado cerebral, reeducación, a espionaxe a particulares e a represión política masiva baseada na ideoloxía do estado.