Defining Fascism: The “Thick” Method

It is now time to turn to the second approach to analyze fascist systems: the ideal type. This heuristical device, developed by the sociologist Max Weber, consists of bringing together a maximum number of properties that can be found in fascist systems. When we have an ideal type it is possible to compare a given system—in our case, Putinism—with this ideal type. Emilio Gentile can be recognized for having identified a number of central elements that can be used for the construction of such an ideal type. I will partially follow Gentile’s approach1 distinguishing four dimensions: organizational cultural ideological institutional