ABSTRACT
Any political enterprise which aspires to power on the basis of popular support will have to command the allegiance of sizable numbers of people from both the middle and working classes, because the size of these classes makes it a necessity. The French Communists receive thirty per cent of their electoral support from middle-class voters, according to a survey taken in 1952. Fascist movements are not adequately conceived as middle-class phenomena, nor are Communist movements to be understood merely as working-class phenomena. Big business as a whole occupies a central position in industrial democracies, and therefore except for its more marginal elements has not been especially attracted to mass movements. Small business, on the other hand, increasingly is marginal in modern society and as a result has been more susceptible to mass movements. National Socialism received little big business support in its initial period, but picked up considerable aid from this source during its rapid growth following the depression.
