Fondo De Cultura Economica Research Articles

The Fascist: An Operational Definition

T HE above snatch of an imaginary conversation between two Spanish Loyalists who are debating the political reliability of a recruit, oversimplified as its approach may seem to be, is nevertheless genuinely illustrative of an operational method of defining social concepts in terms of predictable observable patterns of action. Instead of meditating on the meaning of the term in the genteel tradition of speculative philosophy, searching for its etymological roots, and intuitively deriving its essence or immanent definition, Malraux's realistic anti-fascist fighters define it in terms of a certain attitude which can be observed and is even measurable. It is a man's belief in race (in the political sense of Racialism) that, among other things makes him a Fascist: Racialism is an index of Fascism. It is of course but one index among others, but it may be suspected that this index is correlated with these others. Once established that there is a high degree of correlation between belief in racialism and other indices of a Fascist mentality, a high ranking on a race bias scale would become indicative of a probable high ranking on other scales testing for Fascist attitudes. From this viewpoint the concept is defined in terms of the probability that certain actions have taken place, are taking place, or will take place.' The actions which define a Fascist standpoint are those expressions of attitudes and those behavior patterns which seem to be typically and peculiarly associated with Fascist groups. In other words, Fascism is what Fascists do and think that distinguishes them from non-Fascists. Symbolically this interpretation may be expressed as follows: PF =(I1 + I2 + + ) which means the degree of Fascism (F) in a population (P) is equal to the sum of the indices (I) of its Fascist characteristics. As it stands, however, this definition is tautologous, the Fascist being defined according to his ranking on a scale of Fascist indices. How are these indices themselves to be determined? The operational method provides the answer: Fascist characteristics are those which are observed to be most closely associated with individuals, groups, and states that are avowedly It is the self-admitted Fascists who provide the criteria for determining the indices of Fascist behavior and thought. The diagnostic technxiques of the sociology of knowledge can then further elaborate and refine these criteria by the ideal-typical methods of analytical sociology. The final step is the quantification of the data and their statistical generalization. These criteria can then be applied to the testing of those who are not avowed Fascists, and to those who may not even be conscious of the elements in their thinking. When the concept Fascist is defined in terms of the probability that certain indices are present in a population, it is no longer an either-or term, but becomes a multi-valued concept which can theoretically exhibit a probable range from zero to unitv. That is, the degree to which a population exhibits characteristics which are indicative of Fascism determines the degree to which it is A low degree of probability (e.g., .1) as determined by Fascist indices would indicate that there are traces of a Fascist ideology present, but that it is present only in a minimal degree. An index ranging between .3 and .5 might be characterized as proto-Fascist or minoral Fascist. Likewise, a Fascist index of over .5 would indicate that the average of the population under consideration is Fascist-minded in over half of its attitudes. Adolf Hitler would probably rank as a * Presented at the annual meeting of the Oklahoma Academy of Science, Oklahoma A. and M. College, Stillwater, Oklahoma, December 2, 1944. 'It was Max Weber who, in his Wirtsckafl und Gesellschaft, gave the classic formulation to the probability method of defining social concepts. It may be of interest to some to note that this work is now available in a Spanish translation under the title Economia y Sociedad, published by the Fondo de Cultura Economica, Panuco 63, Mexico, 1944.