The Dual State and Fascism

Author: Gert Sørenson

Source: Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions, Volume 2, Number 3, Winter 2001 , pp. 25-40(16)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

Starting with Fraenkel's The Dual State (1941), based on the author's experience with the Nazi regime, this article examines to what extent the concept of the dual state can be applied to Italian Fascism. Elaborating on Carl Schmitts's concepts of mandatory and of absolute dictatorship, Fraenkel defines the dual state as an unifying complexity of structures and methods that combine normative and prerogative power. The dual state in Fascist Italy is an example, to almost the same degree, of emergency measures being undertaken to prepare the conditions necessary for the further development of a fascist revolution. This article, therefore, suggests that the concept of the dual state is more adequate for analysing, for example, relations between the monarchy and Fascism from the 'March on Rome' onwards, than concepts such as 'diarchy' (in the words of Mussolini), which does not embrace the complex reality of the subordinated role of the king, and of normative traditions represented by the statuto.

Keywords: Italy; Fascism; Mussolini; dual state; Carl Schmitt

Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 2001-12-01