Democracy and the Lessons of Dictatorship

1992/04/01 by Nancy Bermeo · 1 voice · 3 citations
Social Sciences · #Italian Fascism and Post-war Society

paper · doi:10.2307/422133

openalex publication_date 1992/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2025/11/06

Abstract

I must acknowledge . .. that I would have been wiser had I been more moderate in my criticism of the Giolittian system. For while we Italian crusaders attacked him from the Left, accusing him of being-as he was-a corrupter of Italian democracy in the making, others assailed him from the Right because he was even too democratic for their taste. Our criticism thus did not help to direct the evolution of Italian public life toward less imperfect forms of democracy but rather toward the victory of ... reactionary groups .... As for the results of the Fascist dictatorship in contrast with those of Italian democracy in the making, they are here before our very eyes. Let us hope that the Italians will not be the only ones to learn from that frightful experience.1

Cited by

• Party Government and Electoral Reform
• From More Parties to No Parties
• Legislative Limbo, Polarizing Repeal

Discussions

• I also like the FAFO theory of support for democracy. doi.org/10.2307/422133 [bsky, 2 points, 0 comments]

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