The diffusion of political and social corporatism, which with the single-party are hallmarks of the institutional transfers among European dictatorships, challenges some rigid dichotomous interpretations of interwar fascism. This paper rethink the role of corporatism as a political device against liberal democracy and especially as a set of authoritarian institutions that spread across interwar Europe and which was an agent for the hybridisation of the institutions of fascist-era dictatorships. We argue that corporatism was at the forefront of this process of cross-national diffusion, both as a new form of organised interest representation and as an authoritarian alternative to liberal democracy.
ANTÓNIO COSTA PINTO is a Research Professor at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon. His research interests include fascism, political elites, democratization and transitional justice in new democracies, and the comparative study of political change in Southern Europe. He has published recently, Rethinking the Nature of Fascism, London , 2010; Dealing with the legacy of authoritarianism: The politics of the past in Southern European democracies, London, 2011 (with Leonardo Morlino); and The Nature of Fascism Revisited, New york, 2012.