What Does Fascism Actually Mean? Here’s What to Know About Politics’ Latest Buzzword

This election season, you’ve likely heard “fascism” and “fascist” bandied about regularly — probably as an insult or a prophecy of future danger.

Most people know next to nothing about fascism, other than that Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini controlled fascist regimes. Political operatives exploit this ignorance to implicitly connect people and policies they dislike with the brutal legacies of Hitler and Mussolini.

So what does fascism actually refer to, and why does it matter if we use it correctly?

Here’s what you need to know.

Turns out, it’s pretty hard to be a genuine fascist.

Rather than a general label describing vaguely authoritarian people or governments, as its typically used today, fascism refers to a specific kind of totalitarian government with unique ideological, social, economic and contextual characteristics.

Experts widely hail Mussolini as the original fascist. He became Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and spent the next several years consolidating power violently.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a Mussolini scholar and NYU professor, tells Time that Hitler modeled his dictatorship on Mussolini’s.

Hitler and Mussolini are undeniably the world’s most famous fascists, in part because these regimes only formed between World War I and World War II. While the principles and beliefs underpinning the movement live on, experts say fascism occurred between 1919 and 1945.

Fascists share these fundamental beliefs:

In fascist regimes, powerful dictators steer ubiquitous, centralized governments. Together, they control every aspect of society, including, ThoughtCo writes, the “attitudes, morals and beliefs of the people.”

Fascist dictators generally cultivate a cult of personality, which Britannica defines as “a deliberately created system of art, symbolism, and ritual centered on the institutionalized glorification of a specific individual.”

A cult of personality ultimately conflates allegiance to a dictator with allegiance to the state they run. If done effectively, it can eliminate dissent before it starts — as Hitler demonstrated with the indoctrination of Hitler Youth.

Fascism is also associated with militarization. Fascist dictators foster a “nationalistic culture of ‘military citizenship’ in which citizens are willing and prepared to take on some military duties during times of war, including actual combat,” ThoughtCo explains. Oftentimes, dictators require citizens to serve in the military.

Dictators’ outsized focus on war is both ideological and time-specific. On one hand, fascism arose during the World Wars, when military readiness promised protection and power. On the other hand, strong militaries enable dictators to subjugate people they deem inferior — an inherent part of fascist belief.

Fascists embrace capitalism controlled by the government.

Called corporatism, this approach requires industries form government-controlled trade unions. The unions could theoretically decide amongst themselves how to control wages and working conditions, with the government’s ultimate say-so.

In practice, writes Britannica, “Fascist corporatism was used to destroy labor movements and suppress political dissent.” Often, trade unions agreed on business practices favoring the rich, increasing the wealth gap between citizens.

Fascism takes common values to uncommon extremes — a nuance often lost in modern use of the term. Nationalism, for instance, is not inherently fascist.

Nationalists might believe governments have a responsibility to provide for their own citizens before providing for people from other countries. Fascists, by definition, believe people of a certain nationality are more valuable than other humans. This is extreme nationalism — and few people believe it.

Even an extreme nationalist is not, by themselves, a fascist, because fascism refers to a specific conglomeration of beliefs and practices. In the same way, a government can be totalitarian without being fascist.

People who throw “fascism” around today frequently use it like a punchy synonym for a “violent dictatorship.” But fascism is perhaps most unique for its economic practices, not its social or ideological ones.

Governments can be racist, violent, totalitarian and expansionist without being fascist. State-controlled capitalism is part of what makes true fascism — and fascists — so different from other brutal governments.

Fascism enabled governments to commit grave acts of evil, including the first mechanized genocide. It’s too serious a word to use carelessly or inaccurately.

But today, fascism’s brutal connotations are being milked for political points. Anyone can be labeled a fascist for virtually any reason, and most people won’t bat an eye.

They might even believe it.

As Christians, we have a responsibility to tell the truth. Genuine fascism occurred in a span of less than three decades almost a century ago; calling a fellow American a “fascist” today is a lie — and an ignorant one. Let’s relegate our use of “fascism” to people who really deserve it and find some better words to describe people and policies we disagree with.