In the novel Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix, the government is very much a totalitarian government. A totalitarian government is one in which a small group of people maintains strict controls on the country and outlaws every other kind of government and the people who would change the laws. Because the government is totally in control, the rule for having only two children is enforced completely with third children against the law; hence the title where the third children are "among the hidden" within the society.  Haddix is really looking at two questions with this story--that of overpopulation, and how far individuals or small groups will go to effect change.