PYQ Vault · Paper 1 · Political Ideologies
Fascism displays an ambivalent stance towards parliamentary democracy. Explain.
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
€Q Frame fascism through its oppositions, then locate the ambivalence — hostile to parliament in principle, instrumental in practice. €2 Open with the puzzle — why an anti-democratic ideology contests elections at all.
Body flow
Doctrinal contempt — parliament as a "talking shop"; competition as disunity; democracy breeds mediocrity → Mussolini's dictum — total, concentrated authority → philosophical basis — Giovanni Gentile (organic unity of leader, people, state) & Othmar Spann (society as a "super-individual") → instrumental use — Robert O. Paxton: root within the system, then seize power (March on Rome; Hitler via Weimar) → hollowing out — parties banned, liberties suspended, elections reduced to theatre → Harold Laski — fascism arises when democracy is too costly for the economic oligarchy
Counter-view
The fascist self-justification — that a mystical leader-nation bond is "more democratic” than elections — is refuted by the practice of terror and one-party rule.
Conclusion routes
€Q Fascism is procedurally opportunistic but substantively hostile to parliamentary democracy. {It uses democracy as a ladder and kicks it away once the summit is reached.
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
