Flabby Democracy

The question Cas posed to us at the end of class today, "How can democracy give way to fascism?", at first perplexes the liberal sensibilities of many on their first grappling with totalitarianism. I think this is because we are in a very, very different position than post-war Germany or Italy. Totalitarianism arises out of the destruction of a society's institutions and bonds that hold a country together--a situation of total and complete hopelessness. What separates it from other authoritarian movements is that it has no factional agenda, though it may use class or social issues to leverage support. In other words, its end is the pure expansion and enhancement of the state. It may begin as an ideological movement, but ideology becomes an artifice rather than the defining fact of the regime.

The easiest way a democracy can give way to authoritarianism is when trauma shatters the liberal sensibilities that would normally fight totalitarian impulses. Alternatively, if such liberal sensibilities have never existed in a society, democracy can quickly give way to authoritarian government (as this article on Venezuela demonstrates). World War I obliterated the social order of the Victorian age and left entire populations demoralized and atomized. This undifferentiated 'mass' left in the post-war period formed a perfect breeding ground for totalitarian movements.