The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics (93 page)

A right-wing nationalist ideology or movement with a totalitarian and hierarchical structure that is fundamentally opposed to democracy and liberalism.
The term originated in ancient Rome, where the authority of the state was symbolized by the
fasces
, a bundle of rods bound together (signifying popular unity) with a protruding axe-head (denoting leadership). As such, it was appropriated by Mussolini to label the movement he led to power in Italy in 1922, but was subsequently generalized to cover a whole range of movements in Europe during the interwar period. These include the National Socialists in Germany, as well as others such as Action Française, the Arrow Cross in Hungary, or the Falangists in Spain. In the postwar period, the term has been used, often prefixed by ‘neo’, to describe what are viewed as successors to these movements, such as the Italian Social Movement (renamed National Alliance in 1994), the Republikaner Partei in Germany, the National Front in France, or the Falange in Spain, as well as Peronism and, most recently, some emergent movements in ex-Communist countries, such as Pamyat in Russia. Given such diversity, does the term have any meaning?
A classification of genuinely fascist ideologies might proceed as follows. With regard to structure, such ideologies are:
monist
, that is to say, based upon the notion that there are fundamental and basic truths about humanity and the environment which do not admit to question;
simplistic
, in the sense of ascribing complex phenomena to single causes and advancing single remedies;
fundamentalist
, that is, involving a division of the world into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ with nothing in between; and
conspiratorial
, that is, predicated on the existence of a secret world-wide conspiracy by a hostile group seeking to manipulate the masses to achieve and/or maintain a dominant position.
In content, these ideologies are distinguished by five main components. (1) Extreme
nationalism
, the belief that there is a clearly defined nation which has its own distinctive characteristics, culture, and interests, and which is superior to others. (2) This is usually coupled with an assertion of national decline—that at some point in the mythical past the nation was great, with harmonious social and political relationships, and dominant over others, and that subsequently it has disintegrated, become internally fractious and divided, and subordinate to lesser nations. (3) This process of national decline is often linked to a diminution of the racial purity of the nation. In some movements the nation is regarded as co-extensive with the race (the nation race), while in others, hierarchies of races are defined generically with nations located within them (the race nation); in virtually all cases, the view is taken that the introduction of impurities has weakened the nation and been responsible for its plight. (4) The blame for national decline and/or racial miscegenation is laid at the door of a conspiracy on the part of other nations/races seen as competing in a desperate struggle for dominance. (5) In that struggle, both capitalism and its political form, liberal democracy, are seen as mere divisive devices designed to fragment the nation and subordinate it further in the world order.
With regard to prescriptive content, the first priority is the reconstitution of the nation as an entity by restoring its purity. The second is to restore national dominance by reorganizing the polity, the economy, and society. Means to this end include variously:

(1) the institution of an authoritarian and antiliberal state dominated by a single party;
(2) total control by the latter over political aggregation, communication, and socialization;
(3) direction by the state of labour and consumption to create a productionist and self-sufficient economy; and
(4) a charismatic leader embodying the ‘real’ interests of the nation and energizing the masses.

With these priorities fulfilled, the nation would then be in a position to recapture its dominance, if necessary by military means.
Such priorities were explicit in the interwar fascist movements, which indulged in racial/ethnic ‘cleansing’, established totalitarian political systems, productionist economies, and dictatorships, and of course went to war in pursuit of international dominance. But such parties can no longer openly espouse these extremes of the ideology, and revisions have taken place; national/racial purity now takes the form of opposition to continuing immigration and demands for repatriation; totalitarianism and dictatorship have been replaced by lesser demands for a significant strengthening in the authority of the state, allegedly within a democratic framework; productionism has become interventionism; and military glory has been largely eschewed. Postwar movements with such ideologies are conventionally described as neofascist.
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A legal opinion on an issue of Islamic ritual or conduct or on issues of jurisprudence. The person who issues a
fatwa
is one who is versed in Islamic Law, a jurist (
mufti
). Their legal opinions are based on religious principles that are applied to the specific problem which is addressed to the
muft
.
There can be a clear difference in the character of the
fatwa
described above and the
fatwa
rendered in Shiism. A
fatwa
is usually conceived as a legal opinion that has no binding effect. It can be ignored. This conforms to the character of Sunni Islam where consensus (
ijma
) among religious scholars is one of the sources of Islamic law. In Shiism where a hierarchical system of religious authority prevails, a
fatwa
at times can take on the character of a judgement.
In the twentieth century, the role of the
mufti
in the judicial process has declined considerably owing to the adoption of European legal codes by secular governments in the Islamic world. In recent years, however, with the renewed interest in Islam and the
Shari'a
(the body of religious law contained in the
Qur'
n
and the traditional sayings of Mohammed ), the role of the
mufti
has been rejuvenated.
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American term for a presidential nominee whose support comes mainly from one state delegation. Usually nominated either as a token gesture of honour, or as a tactical move to keep a delegation's options open for a time, for instance to see whether a bandwagon effect is building behind any other candidates. With the prevalence of
primary elections
, which have reduced the importance of the
nominating convention
, the number of favourite sons has declined.
The term has been borrowed outside the United States, with the vaguer meaning of ‘local hero’.

 
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Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI)

Division of the US Department of Justice, responsible for investigation of violations of federal law. The FBI was organized in 1934, under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover , and intended mainly as a fact-finding agency with responsibility for internal security. However, under the authoritarian control of Hoover the FBI systematically engaged in illegal activities, particularly aimed at undermining left-wing, and civil rights, activists. Since the 1970s Congress has attempted to increase the accountability of the FBI.