Further Reading
McIlwain, C. H. Constitutionalism.Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge
University Press, 1939.
corporatism
A social theory and practice, especially in FASCISTItaly
in the 1930s, that divides society into corporations, or
groups according to economic functions (such as
unions, professional associations, business interests,
etc.). The corporations regulate member activities and
represent their interests to the state. The state coordi-
nates the whole society through balancing of corporate
needs and contributing to the entire nation. A modifica-
tion of the MEDIEVAL CATHOLICview of society with rec-
ognized corporations in CANON LAW(church orders,
trade GUILDS, colleges, towns, etc.). Fascist Italy under
Benito Mussolini tried to adapt this social system of the
Middle Ages to modern CAPITALIST, industrial society.
Fascist corporatism hoped to avoid both MARXIST COM-
MUNISMand capitalist LIBERAL DEMOCRACYthrough this
“middle-way” system. HEGEL’s political philosophy
influenced corporatist fascism by viewing the state as
reconciling groups in national unity. Within this sys-
tem, corporations have an exclusive monopoly over a
certain economic activity. So, unlike capitalist econom-
ics in which businesses compete, a corporatist economy
composed of, say, several steel companies would have a
single steel monopoly run by that steel manufacturing
corporation under the general management of the state.
Such corporatism seemed more orderly than competi-
tive market capitalism and secured greater employment
security for workers. The New Deal in the United States
in the 1930s under President Franklin ROOSEVELT
allowed some corporate monopolies in major industries
and large labor unions (earning it the label fascistby
some CONSERVATIVES), but the U.S. economy remained
overall capitalist. The disadvantage of corporatism was
its less innovative, less productive, and more inflexible
qualities, compared with free-market capitalism.
In the political sphere, corporatism relied on
greater management of the corporate monopolies by
the central state. This is contrasted with the PLURALISM
politics of liberal democracies in which many interest
groups lobby the government and the state serves as a
“referee” among competing interest groups. Again, the
corporatist fascist state claimed to be more secure,
orderly, and just (representing the interests of the
wholesociety) than either liberal, capitalist democra-
cies or class-based Marxist SOCIALIST or COMMUNIST
societies. Liberal democracies (such as the United
States and Britain) criticized fascist corporatism for
being too AUTHORITARIANand monopolistic; commu-
nists criticized it for subjecting labor unions to the
state and preventing working class revolution.
Several contemporary nations retain elements of
corporatism, usually through strong labor unions and
business associations that negotiate with the govern-
ment for legal and economic benefits. Sweden and
Austria, as well as some Latin American nations,
exhibit considerable social corporatism. The United
States and Great Britain are the least corporatist coun-
tries on Earth; the INDIVIDUALISMand market-oriented
economics of these countries make them less likely to
be corporatist. The European community shows
increasing signs of corporatist structures. Most mod-
ern corporatist systems rely on high levels of state tax-
ation and extensive social welfare services.Further Reading
Malloy, James M., ed. Authoritarianism and Corporatism in
Latin America.Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press,
1977.covenant
An agreement or compact or contract between at least
two beings. In political thought, this comes primarily
from the Bible view of the covenant between God and
his people, or Israel. In several places in scripture,
God declares, “I will be your God and you will be my
People” (for example, Exodus 19:5: “... if ye will
obey my voice... and keep my covenant, then ye
shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people.. .”). This covenant involves God giving his people
blessings, protection, prosperity, and love in return for
them obeying his laws, commandments, and guid-
ance. A divinely “covenanted people” are chosen by
God, for special favor but also special obligations: to
live moral, holy, reverent, godly lives, individually and
socially. When the people with whom God has made a
covenant and whom he has blessed disobey his laws,
God brings curses and punishments upon them. The
Jewish Bible, or Old Testament, is the story of God’s
chosen people, the Jews, alternately being faithful to
their covenant with God (and prospering) and break-
ing their covenant with God (and suffering defeat and
destruction). See Deuteronomy 28–30. This covenant
view is taken up by several Protestant Christian
churches, especially John CALVIN’s, and later English
covenant 73