ABSTRACT
At first sight, nothing seems easier to understand than fascism. It presents itself to in crude, primary images: a chauvinist demagogue haranguing an ecstatic crowd; disciplined ranks of marching youths; uniform-shirted militants beating up members of some demonized minority; obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood; and compensatory cults of unity. The fascist phenomenon was poorly understood at the beginning in part because it was unexpected. Until the end of the nineteenth century, most political thinkers believed that widening the vote would inevitably benefit democracy and socialism. The great "isms" of nineteenth-century Europe—conservativism, liberalism, socialism—were associated with notable rule, characterized by deference to educated leaders, learned debates, and limited popular authority. Fascism is a political practice appropriate to the mass politics of the twentieth century. A particular national variant of fascism differ far more profoundly one from another in themes and symbols than do the national variants of the true "isms.".
