What is Corporatism?
The word comes from the Latin for body. Corporatists picture a nation as a body whose parts, such as business, labour and the professions, should work together instead of fighting. Rather than leave bargaining to the open market or to class conflict, they want official organisations for each group, with a seat at the table when rules on pay and prices are made. The term does not mean rule by big companies, though that is a common mistake. The key split is about who is in charge. In authoritarian versions, the state creates and controls the groups. In democratic versions, free and independent associations negotiate with the government.
Core beliefs
- Society works best when its different groups cooperate and do not fight.
- Employers and workers should each be represented by an official body.
- Major economic decisions should be agreed between these bodies and the state.
- Class conflict and strikes harm the whole nation and should be settled by talks.
- People belong to occupations and communities, not only to a mass of voters.
- The national interest comes before any single group's wishes.
History
Medieval guilds and estates gave later thinkers a model of society as a set of ranks with duties. In the 1800s writers hoped to find a path between liberal individualism and socialism. The French sociologist Emile Durkheim argued that occupational groups could give modern people a sense of belonging. The Catholic Church added its own version. Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum in 1891 urged cooperation between employers and workers, and Pius XI's Quadragesimo Anno in 1931 called for vocational bodies. After the First World War, several dictatorships took up the label. Fascist Italy passed its Charter of Labour in 1927, banned free unions and strikes, and in 1939 replaced the lower house with a Chamber of Fasces and Corporations. Portugal under Salazar, Austria from 1934 to 1938 and Spain under Franco built similar systems. After 1945, Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands and others developed democratic forms.
Variants
Scholars separate two kinds. State corporatism is imposed from above. The government sets up the groups, picks their leaders and bans rivals. Social or neo-corporatism grows from below. Strong, independent unions and employers' federations negotiate wages and policy in return for a role in government. Catholic corporatism, rooted in church teaching, is a third strand, and it stresses duty and fair pay. Some thinkers, such as Othmar Spann in Austria, wanted a full society of estates. Others only wanted a seat for unions in law-making.
Criticisms
Liberal critics say corporatism favours organised insiders and shuts out the unemployed, small firms and ordinary voters. Where it was state-run, historians say it gave workers no real voice, since independent unions were banned and the bodies served the party. Free-market economists argue that bargaining by big groups can raise prices and slow change. Left critics say talks between unequal partners tend to favour employers. Defenders of the democratic model reply that it has often delivered industrial peace, stable wages and low strike levels.
In practice
The fascist and authoritarian versions are remembered mostly for lost freedoms and propaganda, since the corporations rarely had real power. The democratic versions have lasted longer. In Austria, social partners still negotiate wages and shape laws. Nordic countries and the Netherlands have councils or pacts that bring unions, employers and ministers together. On the 12 axes the model sits near the middle on many scores, with a lean toward Planned on Markets and toward Central on Structure. Its Authority score is a blend of coercive and democratic forms.