ABSTRACT
Fascism introduces altogether new elements into an emerging political alchemy. Historians of fascism point to the significance of class, of alienation in large industrial societies, and of feelings of estrangement due to rapid technological change. Each of these elements appears to combine and give new political qualities to the charismatic dynamics of the leader. Addressing these qualities and dynamics requires analysis that is at once historical and theoretical. Many models of fascism exist and can be used to measure what appears to be central to Trumpism. The rise of Mussolini in Italy in the early 1920s and the rise of Hitler in the early 1930s in Germany both remain important benchmarks because they remind us of fascism’s most common ingredients: underlying prejudice, social unrest, economic dislocation, a willingness to resort to violence, isolated individuals in the context of societies speeding up, a frustrated middle class, and entrepreneurial opportunists shameless enough to seize power without publicly disclosing reservations about the consequences of their actions. Charismatic authority figures prove especially adept at wielding power when a prevailing climate of fear and foreboding takes hold.
