What Is the True Meaning of Fascism?

What is the meaning of fascism? How can you recognize a fascist political system?

While the word “fascist” is commonly used in conversation these days, it’s important to understand the real meaning of fascism. A fascist political system causes citizens to live in fear without the basic human rights many of us enjoy.

Keep reading to learn the meaning of fascism, including the ideology behind fascist political systems.

The Meaning of Fascism: A Misunderstood Ideology

Modern political discourse, especially in the U.S., is rife with talk of fascism. People on both sides of the political spectrum now use “fascist” merely as an insult, or as a knee-jerk reaction to policies they don’t like—examples are all over the news and social media. However, words have meaning; diluting the meaning of fascism in this way makes it difficult to recognize real fascism, or even to understand what it is. So, what is the meaning of fascism? Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, and repressive political philosophy or system. Historically, fascist ruling parties led to widespread poverty, people living in fear, and the loss of basic human rights.

It’s important to understand what fascism is and be able to identify its signs, because simply calling everything you don’t like “fascist” isn’t just inaccurate, but also potentially dangerous. Like the story of the boy who cried wolf, crying fascism too often creates the risk that people won’t take it seriously if and when actual fascism appears in modern politics.

The Far-Right Ideology of Fascism

Fascism is a far-right system where a charismatic dictator wields the combined power of the government, corporations, religion, and media to maintain absolute control over the people. As Mussolini himself wrote in his Doctrine of Fascism: 

“Thus understood, Fascism, is totalitarian, and the Fascist State—a synthesis and a unit inclusive of all values—interprets, develops, and potentates the whole life of a people. No individuals or groups (political parties, cultural associations, economic unions, social classes) outside the State.” Today, no countries and few, if any, political parties describe themselves as fascist; however, the extent to which certain political movements, parties, and governments evoke fascist ideas and policies is open to debate.

Three of the common elements found in a fascist system are:

• Obsession with order and security: Fascist nations prize law, order, and safety above all else. This leads to repressive laws and harsh punishments for breaking them, enforced by secret police forces operating with little oversight or accountability. This tendency goes hand in hand with a disdain for human rights (which are considered irrelevant compared to national security) and a disdain for education and the arts (which give people “dangerous” or “unpatriotic” ideas).

• Extreme nationalism and xenophobia: Fascists push the belief that their country and their people are the best in the world; all other nations and peoples are inferior. Both the government and private citizens are expected—if not required—to show their pride in the country and their belief in its supremacy. Common ways of doing this are by displaying flags, reciting slogans, and supporting the military without question. 

• Dictatorship: One of the central tenets of fascism is that the government must be led by a single person who wields absolute authority. There are no checks and balances between branches of government; the leader’s word is law. If elections are held at all, they will be rigged to ensure that the leader and his supporters maintain power. 

What About Fascism on the Left?

So far, our discussion of the meaning of fascism has focused on right-wing values: capitalism, religion and tradition, nationalism, and so on, because fascism is a far-right ideology. Yet some misapply the label to the left. So, we’ll conclude by examining accusations of leftist fascism.

In large part, these accusations arise because people conflate fascism with authoritarianism. Authoritarianism means that the government wields absolute power and represses the rights of individuals; while that is a key part of the meaning of fascism, the words aren’t synonymous. 

To better illustrate this point, The Political Compass replaces the traditional left-to-right political spectrum with two axes: economic policies and social policies. 

The economic policy scale, running horizontally, represents the concentration of wealth. At the extreme left, everything is shared equally and individual property may not even exist; at the extreme right, each individual earns and keeps as much as possible at everyone else’s expense. 

The social policy scale, running vertically, represents individual freedoms versus government control. At the very bottom, there are either no laws or no government powers to enforce them—each person has absolute freedom. At the very top, the government controls every aspect of life, and individuals have no recourse against unfair policies or unjust legal decisions.

Below is an image of those axes and some examples of political systems you would find at each of the extremes. 

Another common misuse of the word fascism is as a stand-in for totalitarianism or dictatorship: In other words, a system where one person runs the government without checks and balances or accountability to anyone else. Again, this is a key tenet of fascism, but that doesn’t mean the words are interchangeable.

So, while there certainly are violent, repressive, and totalitarian leftist regimes (such as Stalinist Russia, the Communist Party of China, and the Workers’ Party of North Korea), it would not be correct to call them fascist despite their having elements in common.

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