Corporatism is a political ideology that advocates for the organization of society by major interest groups, or corporate groups, such as agricultural, business, ethnic, labor, military, patronage, or scientific affiliations, on the basis of their common interests. It is theoretically based on the interpretation of a community as an organic body. The term corporatism is based on the Latin word "corpus" meaning "body" or "structure".
In the corporatist state, these corporate groups are recognized and granted certain powers by the state, with the intention of allowing each group to represent its own interests within the political process. This is in contrast to pluralism, where many groups compete for influence and power, but none are officially recognized or granted special privileges by the state.
Corporatism originated in the late Middle Ages with the guild system of economic organization, where craft guilds and merchant guilds organized local economies. The idea was that society functioned best when its economic sectors were organized into these professional bodies, each of which would work together for the common good of society.
In the modern era, corporatism was first formulated in the late 19th century by the Catholic Church in response to the challenges of both socialism and unfettered capitalism. The Church's vision of corporatism was outlined in Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, which advocated for the rights of labor to form unions but rejected class conflict and the abolition of private property.
In the 20th century, corporatism became a key part of the economic systems of fascist states like Italy under Benito Mussolini. Mussolini's regime organized the Italian economy into major sectoral corporations, each of which was supposed to represent the interests of its members, but in practice was controlled by the fascist state.
However, corporatism is not exclusively associated with fascism. It has also been a feature of many non-fascist states, particularly in Western Europe, where corporatist bargaining between labor, business, and the state has been a key feature of economic policy. In these cases, corporatism is often associated with social partnership models where government, employers and trade unions collaborate to set economic policy.
In conclusion, corporatism as a political ideology is based on the organization of society into corporate groups, each representing its own interests. Its history spans from the late Middle Ages to the present, with various manifestations in different political and economic systems.
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