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Not having a totalitarian government is a necessary but not a sufficient condition to prevent covering up of accidents.



Singapore is basically a totalitarian state and I'd trust them with a nuclear reactor. Depends on the situation I suppose.


To split hairs, Singapore is a one-party police state, but it's not totalitarian.

A totalitarian state directs all of its population's efforts in pursuit of state goals. The USSR during WWII (Or during the civil war, or during the years in between the civil war and WWII) would strongly qualify - and between Stalin's death, and Glasnost, would semi-strongly qualify. North Korea would strongly qualify. Singapore, modern Russia, or modern-day China would not, because most activity that takes place in them is undirected market economics. They have a few directed economic areas, deemed of import to the state, but for the majority of activity taking place in them, the state is not involved significantly closer than it is in western countries.




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