ICS Working Papers Nº2/2016

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ICS WORKING PAPERS 2016
Rerum Novarum, the corporatism frame became clearer, with a corporatist reorganization of
society associated with the strong anti-secular principals of parliamentary democracy held by
Pope Pius XII. In 1937, Karl Loewenstein saw ‘this romantic concept of organic representation’
in new legislatures trying to be a ‘true mirror of the social forces of the nation and a genuine
replica of its economic structure’. However, the role of corporatist bodies within the
dictatorships was, as we will see below, much less romantic.
It is from this perspective we revisit the processes of the institutional crafting of social and
political corporatism in inter-war European dictatorships, on three axes: construction of the
political authonomy of the dictator and his executive from the legislative, the creation of a
single or dominant party, the levels of state control of Interest Groups, and especially of the
union movement, and the types (and projects) of authoritarian legislatures they created.
Italian Fascism: Quick diffusion and slow institutionalization
The institutionalization of corporatism in Italy is particularly interesting because while it may
have been an element in the spread of social corporatism it was the dominant model, and its
implementation was one of the slowest and with more inter-institutional tensions that the
other transitions to authoritarianism. Even as an integral part of the PNF programme and
quickly outlined in the declaration of principles in the 1927 Charter, it was to take another 11
years for the new system to be integrated and completed with the creation of the Camara dei
Fasci e dei Corporazione.
As a declaration of the principles of Fascist corporatism, the 1927 Carta del Lavoro fell short
of the aspirations of Fascist syndicalism; however, it was the most influential document
within those dictatorships that adopted social corporatist institutions, playing a role model in
Europe and beyond. As Matteo Passeti shows, the influence of the Carta del Lavoro crossed
borders, connected intellectual circles, contaminated ideological currents and inspired policy-
making as a ‘real epochal factor’
Drawn up by Justice Minister Alfredo Rocco, the Carta del Lavoro defined three main
principals of Fascist social corporatism: first, the authoritarian regulation of labour conflict
through the abolition of the right to strike and lockout and the creation of the labour courts;
second, the state monopoly on labour relations through the legal recognition of a sole
employer association and a single trade union for every sector; and third, the creation of the
first corporatist bodies through the constitution of the National Council of Corporations.
These elements created a new authoritarian model of labour relations and the subordination
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