Fascism and How Scholars Define It

What Is Fascism

Fascism is a far-right political ideology that puts the nation above the individual, promises to reverse a national decline, and relies on one leader, one party, and political violence to do it. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum describes it as “an ultranationalist, authoritarian political philosophy” that opposes “communism, socialism, pluralism, individual rights and equality, and democratic government” (USHMM). The name comes from the fasces, a bundle of rods with an axe, which Benito Mussolini’s party used as its symbol (AP).

Fascism is related to authoritarianism, but the two words name different things. Authoritarianism is a way of governing that strips away checks on power, and it has many ideologies behind it. Fascism is one specific ideology, with its own myths and its own mass movement, that governs in an authoritarian or totalitarian way once it wins power. The authoritarianism page covers the warning signs political scientists measure. This page covers what fascism is and why the word is so contested.

Four Definitions Scholars Use

There is no single agreed definition. The four below are among the most often cited. They overlap on nationalism and national rebirth and split on whether overthrowing democracy is required.

The definitions agree that fascism feeds on a sense of national decline. They differ on whether it is a doctrine, a pattern of behavior, or a set of tactics.

The disagreement matters in practice. Under Griffin’s definition, a movement has to aim at replacing the existing political order to count, so a politician who works inside elections usually does not qualify. Griffin told Vox in 2020 that a leader’s “relationship to democracy” is “the key to answering whether he’s a fascist or not” (Vox). Under Stanley’s, fascist tactics can operate inside a democracy long before any regime forms. Paxton sits between them. He treats fascism as behavior that moves through stages, and he stresses that fascists reached power with the help of conservative elites who thought they could control them.

Eco, who grew up under Mussolini, listed features such as “the cult of action for action’s sake,” “life is lived for struggle,” “contempt for the weak,” and a “selective populism” in which the leader claims to speak for “the People” (New York Review of Books). He warned that it “can come back under the most innocent of disguises.”

How Fascists Took Power

Neither Mussolini nor Hitler seized power by force. Both tried or threatened force, and both were then handed office by the people already in charge.

1. 1919 Movements founded Mussolini founds the Fascist movement in Italy. Hitler joins the German Workers' Party.
2. 1922 March on Rome Armed Fascists march on Rome, and the king appoints Mussolini prime minister.
3. 1923 Beer Hall Putsch fails Hitler's coup attempt in Munich collapses, and he turns to elections.
4. 1930 Nazis win 18% The Depression turns a fringe party into a major one.
5. 1933 Hitler appointed President Hindenburg names Hitler chancellor, and the Enabling Act follows.
6. 1945 Defeat Both regimes fall at the end of World War II.

Source: U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Fascism and The Nazi Rise to Power.

Fascism in Power, 1919 to 1945: 1919: Movements founded (Mussolini founds the Fascist movement in Italy. Hitler joins the German Workers' Party.). 1922: March on Rome (Armed Fascists march on Rome, and the king appoints Mussolini prime minister.). 1923: Beer Hall Putsch fails (Hitler's coup attempt in Munich collapses, and he turns to elections.). 1930: Nazis win 18% (The Depression turns a fringe party into a major one.). 1933: Hitler appointed (President Hindenburg names Hitler chancellor, and the Enabling Act follows.). 1945: Defeat (Both regimes fall at the end of World War II.).

1919: Mussolini founded the Fascist movement in Italy. The same year, Hitler joined the small German Workers’ Party, which he renamed the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, the Nazi Party, in 1920 (USHMM).

1922: In October, thousands of armed Fascist “Blackshirts” marched on Rome. Paxton writes that the king believed the only way to stop the Fascists’ takeovers of Italian cities “was to invite its leader into office,” and he appointed Mussolini prime minister (Newsweek). Mussolini went on to build a one-party dictatorship.

1923: Hitler tried to copy the March on Rome with a coup in Munich, the Beer Hall Putsch. It failed, he served eight months in prison, and the Nazis switched to winning elections (USHMM).

1930: With the Great Depression deepening, the Nazis won 18% of the national vote in September, up from 2.6% two years earlier (USHMM).

1933: On January 30, President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Hitler chancellor. The museum attributes the appointment to real popular support, the manipulation of the democratic system, and “backroom dealing” by Hindenburg and a small group of right-wing politicians (USHMM).

1945: Both regimes fell with their defeat in World War II. The Nazi state had ruled for 12 years and carried out the Holocaust.

The Nazi vote peaked at 37% in July 1932 and fell to 33% in November. Hitler was appointed chancellor after the fall, not at the peak.

Nazi Party share of the national vote in Reichstag elections (%)

Category	Value
Sep 1930	18%
Jul 1932	37%
Nov 1932	33%
Mar 1933	44%

Source: U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, The Nazi Rise to Power (rounded as reported by the museum; March 1933 is 'almost 44 percent'). The March 1933 vote was held under the Reichstag Fire Decree, after most Communist leaders had been arrested.

How Germany Lost Democracy in 1933

It took Hitler 52 days to get the power to rule without parliament, and less than six months to make the Nazis the only legal party. Each step used a legal tool: a presidential appointment, an emergency decree, an election, and a vote of parliament.

From chancellor to one-party state, 1933

1. 1 January 30 Hitler appointed chancellor President Hindenburg appoints him. Only two other Nazis sit in the cabinet.
2. 2 Late February Emergency decree After an arson attack on the parliament building, Hindenburg signs the Reichstag Fire Decree, suspending civil liberties indefinitely.
3. 3 March 5 Last multi-party election Amid arrests of opposition leaders, the Nazis win almost 44%. With conservative allies, the government passes 50% in parliament.
4. 4 March 23 (day 52) Enabling Act Parliament lets the government make laws, even unconstitutional ones, without parliament or the president.
5. 5 July One legal party The Nazi Party becomes the only legal political party in Germany.

Source: U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, The Nazi Rise to Power and The Enabling Act. The day count is from January 30, 1933.

The Enabling Act needed a two-thirds vote. The Nazis arranged it by keeping all 81 Communist deputies and 26 of the 120 Social Democrats from their seats, holding many of them in what they called protective detention, and by stationing SA and SS men in the chamber (USHMM). Only the Social Democrats voted against it. The German Supreme Court accepted the result. The museum notes that judges “viewed Hitler’s government as legitimate and continued to regard themselves as state servants who owed him their allegiance.”

Even under terror, most Germans voted against the Nazis in March 1933.

44%

8%

18%

12%

18%

• Nazi Party (44%)
• Conservative partners (8%)
• Other parties (18%) The remainder after the four parties the museum reports.
• Communists (12%)
• Social Democrats (18%)

Source: U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, The Nazi Rise to Power. 'Other parties' is derived as 100% minus the four reported shares.

Fascism vs Communism and Socialism

Fascism and communism are often grouped together because both produced one-party dictatorships. As ideologies, they were enemies. The Holocaust Memorial Museum lists communism and socialism among the ideas fascism opposes, and notes that Hitler promoted National Socialism “as the complete opposite of socialism and communism,” despite the word in the party’s name (USHMM).

Paxton noted another difference. Once in power, Hitler and Mussolini ruled “with the support of the same businessmen against Labor,” while later forcing business to serve rearmament (Newsweek).

The “14 Characteristics of Fascism” List

A poster titled “Early Warning Signs of Fascism” has circulated online since 2017, often described as a display at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Snopes rated that claim a mixture. The poster was sold for a time in the museum’s gift shop, not shown in an exhibit, and the museum told Snopes it no longer carries it (Snopes).

The list comes from Laurence Britt’s article “Fascism Anyone?” in Free Inquiry magazine in spring 2003 (excerpt). Britt said he was an amateur historian, not the “Dr.” the poster credits. He drew his 14 traits from several 20th-century regimes, including Hitler’s Germany, Mussolini’s Italy and Franco’s Spain. Accounts differ on how many: an online excerpt of the article lists five, while the poster’s own disclaimer says seven (Snopes). It is often confused with Eco’s 14 features, which are a different list written eight years earlier. Neither list is a test that a government passes or fails.

How the Word Is Used in U.S. Politics

“Fascist” has been an all-purpose insult for a long time. In 1946, George Orwell wrote that “the word Fascism has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies ‘something not desirable’” (Orwell Foundation). Both sides of U.S. politics use it.

• In November 2023, in a Veterans Day speech, Donald Trump pledged to “root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country” (Vox).
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, some conservatives called lockdown orders “fascist,” the Associated Press noted (AP).
• In October 2024, John Kelly, Trump’s longest-serving White House chief of staff, said Trump met the definition of a fascist. Asked that week whether she thought Trump was a fascist, Vice President Kamala Harris said, “Yes, I do.” Trump’s campaign accused Kelly of lying, and Trump answered in a Fox News interview: “Everyone knows that’s not true. They call me everything until something sticks” (AP).

The AP summed up the drift: the term “has taken on a looser political definition and is often evoked as a catch-all” for oppression and racism, or for leaders who embrace totalitarian tactics. That looseness is why the scholars’ definitions above matter. A specific claim, such as “this leader wants to jail opponents” or “this group uses street violence,” can be checked. A label alone cannot. The misinformation vs. disinformation explainer covers how to check a political claim.

The Honest Disagreement

Scholars of fascism are divided over whether the word fits current U.S. politics.

The case that it fits. Robert Paxton, the author of The Anatomy of Fascism, long resisted the label. In January 2021 he wrote that he had preferred “a more unemotional term, such as oligarchy or plutocracy,” but that Trump’s “open encouragement of civic violence to overturn an election crosses a red line. The label now seems not just acceptable but necessary” (Newsweek). In October 2024 he told The New York Times Magazine: “It’s the real thing. It really is” (quoted by the AP). Jason Stanley argues that fascist tactics should be recognized “before it becomes a regime” (Vox).

The case that it does not. In an October 2020 Vox survey of fascism scholars, none called Trump a fascist leader outright, and Jason Stanley came closest, calling Trumpism “a fascist social and political movement” while stopping short of calling it a fascist government. Roger Griffin said Trump had never “tried to make himself a permanent president, let alone suggest any coherent plan for overthrowing the constitutional system,” and called him “an illiberal democrat.” Vox recalled Griffin’s blunter line from 2015: “You can be a total xenophobic racist male chauvinist bastard and still not be a fascist.” Stanley Payne called the case “pretty thin gruel” (Vox). In 2024, Brown University historian David Kertzer said he was “a little horrified” to hear the label used, given its “historical resonance.” He saw “certain echoes,” such as a “mass movement, a cult of the strongman,” and noted that Trump had talked about jailing opponents, but he saw no move toward “a one-party state” or banning opposition newspapers (AP).

The two sides are closer than the headlines suggest. Both use the same historical record. They disagree mainly on the threshold: whether fascism begins with the tactics and the movement, or only when a regime ends elections and bans the opposition.

What the Label Leaves Out

• Not every authoritarian is a fascist. Under every definition above, fascism needs a nationalist myth of rebirth and a mass movement. Military juntas, one-party communist states, and personal strongmen can be authoritarian without either.
• Not every nationalist is a fascist. Patriotism and national pride are common in democracies. The scholars’ definitions require more: a myth of national rebirth, the rejection of pluralism, and violence against enemies.
• The label can end a conversation. Kertzer’s concern about “historical resonance” is that the word carries the Holocaust and World War II with it. Naming the specific act, and the law or norm it breaks, is often more persuasive to people who do not already agree.
• Italy and Germany are not the only models. Fascist movements and parties existed across Europe and in the United States, including Oswald Mosley’s in Britain, and most never took power (USHMM). Their failures are part of the story too.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a simple definition of fascism?

Fascism is a far-right ideology that puts the nation above the individual, promises to restore a nation it says has declined, and uses one leader, one party, and political violence against the enemies it names.

What is a good example of fascism?

Mussolini’s Italy, from 1922, and Nazi Germany, from 1933 to 1945, are the two standard examples. Scholars disagree about other regimes, such as Franco’s Spain.

What are the three beliefs of fascism?

The Holocaust Memorial Museum names three characteristics: “strident, often exclusionary nationalism,” a “fixation with national decline (real or perceived),” and the “embrace of paramilitarism.”

Is fascism left or right?

Scholars and the Holocaust Memorial Museum classify it as far right. The Nazi Party’s name included “socialist,” but it opposed socialism and communism and persecuted their members.

What is the opposite of fascism?

There is no single opposite, because fascism defined itself against several things at once. The Holocaust Memorial Museum says it opposes “communism, socialism, pluralism, individual rights and equality, and democratic government.” The closest opposite is liberal democracy, which protects the individual rights, pluralism, and elected government fascism rejects.

What You Can Do

1. Name the act, not only the label. When a leader threatens to jail opponents or ignore a court, say exactly that. A specific claim can be checked and is harder to dismiss than a word.

2. Read the primary record. The Holocaust Memorial Museum’s encyclopedia walks through how German democracy ended, step by step, with sources.

3. Watch the institutions. The lesson of 1933 is that courts, legislatures, and officials decide whether a movement can take power. The authoritarianism explainer tracks the checks that matter now.

4. Push back on dehumanizing language, from any side. Treating opponents as enemies of the nation is on Eco’s list (“disagreement is treason”), and Stanley’s definition turns on blaming groups for a supposed national humiliation. The stochastic terrorism explainer covers how rhetoric connects to threats.

5. Vote and help others vote. Both fascist regimes in the historical record ended free elections. Check your registration at Vote.gov.