Fascist Regimes
A fascist regime is any government that gives the state all power to control its nation. Its ultimate goal is to glorify the state and make the individual subordinate to it. Even as it rejects individual rights and freedoms, it works to compel if not coerce its countryman to adopt an intense and paranoid sense of national belonging or ethnic identity.
Fascist regimes usually have three stages:
- Decry liberal democracy
- Establish radical followers
- Move nationalistic fanatics into power
To birth a government based on fascism is no easy matter. In fact, such a government was a phenomenon not seen before the early 20th century when Benito Mussolini first brought one to bear on the people of Italy. So how can it happen? The life cycle of a fascist regime can actually be broken down into stages. It all begins when a group of intellectuals decide that liberal democracy is a sham. First, this group sets up a program designed to malign the current government by suggesting that it weakens the existing community with its capitalist "bourgeois" individualism and middle class conservatism.
The second stage is to establish a large presence in the political realm by attracting followers and allies who would benefit from their radical ideas. Changing and adapting as needed is part of the third stage wherein the group aligns itself with and makes allies of some of the very politicos they are attempting to overthrow. This is a very important step for the group. This type of regime rarely comes into power by force or coup but rather with the help of the "conservative elite" who selfishly see some benefit to themselves.
Having successfully moved into the political arena the group will attempt to cinch the deal in the final stage, a "radical expansion of nationalism with mass enthusiasm". With enough support from its allies on high and the citizenry at large, the group moves into power.