POLITICAL SCIENCE

PROJECT

TOPIC – FASCISM

COMPILED BY-
TAIYEBA NOOR FATIMA
 INTRODUCTION
The word ‘fascist’ comes from ‘fasces’, a bundle of sticks tied to an axe. The fasces was
carried by the bodyguard of a roman imperial magistrate, as a symbol of his authority .In the
20th century the fasces was resurrected to represent both the glory of the ancient past and
unity through strength –sticks tied together are far harder to break than sticks that stand on
their own. Fascism is primarily used to identify the social, economic and political system that
was established in Italy in 1922 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini and his Fascist
party. In modern sense, fascism is a political ideology wherein the state is all-powerful and
the power resides in the hands of a very small group of people typically led by a charismatic
leader who is more of a demagogue. It is characterized by hero worship, authoritarian power,
manipulation of education and media, control of industry and commerce, misuse of
nationalism and glorification of war.1

 Fascism was a political movement and a form of government that promoted loyalty to one's
leader and state. It shared some of the same principals for running a government and a
country as communism. Some of these include having a dictator in charge of the government,
having only one political party, censorship of media, totalitarian control, state controlled
economies, no democracy, citizens had an extreme sense of nationalism, and government
attempted to control religion. Some of the things unique to Fascism was that it had strict
social classes, supported private property, does not follow any specific ideology, and it
promoted racial superiority.

1
J.C. Johari, Contemporary Political Theory
DEFINITION OF FASCISM
Defining fascism raises a problem. Fascism as a movement extols action and practice over
ideas and theory. It uses ideas with considerable opportunism, mixing socialist ideas, avant-
garde positions, anti-capitalist rehetoric, ecological argument and pseudo-scientific ideas to
do with ‘race’ and ‘ethinicity’ in a veritable pot-pourri.

Fascism is, however, essentially a twentieth-century movement although it draws upon

prejudices and stereotypes that are rooted in tradition. Italian fascism saw itself as
resurrecting the glories of Roman Empire and Rocco, an Italian fascist, saw Machiavelli as a
founding father of fascist theory. Nazism was seen by its ideologues as rooted in the history
of the Nordic peoples, and the movement embodied anti-Semitic views that go back to
Middle Ages in which Jews, for example, were blamed for the death of the Christ, compelled
to be moneylenders, confined to ghettos and acquired a reputation for crooked commerce.2

Fascism involves a high degree of Nationalism, which is a strong feeling of patriotism to your
state and its people. In fact, the Nationalism of fascism is so strong that is often involves
feeling of national and racial superiority over others. The darkest example of this is the
Jewish Holocaust brought about by Nazi fascism during World War 2.

Fascism is also characterised by militarism, where military institutions and military force
have a heavy influence in society. Militarism can be characterized by four factors. First, it
involves the participation of military officers in civilian government. Second, the state
focuses on a foreign policies predicated on a strong military and projection of power. Third,
military values and norms are persuasive within the society’s culture. Finally, there is a focus
on war preparation in cultural, political and economic institutions.

2
John Hoffman and Paul Graham, Introduction to Political Ideoligies (Pearson, Noida, 2010)
ORIGIN OF FASCISM