Response to Group Work

Both Alex and Nick discussed fascism in relation to democracy in their posts. Alex examined Stalin's terminology of the word "democracy" to describe the U.S.S.R. while Nick suggested a way in which democracy could lead to fascism. Both topics brush on the interesting relationship democracy and fascism share. On the broadest level, democracy and fascism seem to be at opposite ends of the governmental system scale; a democracy is focused on the individual, and his or her decisive role in government, while fascism holds the state above the individual, and the individual's power only comes in relation to the state. So how could Stalin describe a fascist government as the best example of democracy, and how could a democracy move so drastically to a fascist state? Democracy is strangely similar to fascism when you consider the ideology of the two political systems. For starters, the two systems believe in the common man, or the proletariat, as the heart of the people. The systems refute any favoring of the elite class. Both systems believe in rationally-guided and civilized societies, where actions are justified as either beneficial to the populace or to the state and where stability is forever an aim. I think Nick's point that fascism was able to develop post-World War I because of political instability and demoralized citizens is right on. It can be assumed that a populace will always desire a democracy, citizens will always want a say in their government. And while democracy might be the ultimate goal, the destruction the war brought urged people to grasp onto any hope of stability they could find; fascism promised stability as well as "democratic" goals of equality. This latter point is one that Alex talked about: fascism could be seen as democratic in the way that it eliminated class distinctions, paving an equal playing field for all citizens. Democracy and fascism are drastically different political systems when considering their entireties , but it is interesting that such different systems can still share similar goals and beliefs.