47

This article uses the case of Italian fascism to analyze the construction of a charismatic leadership style. It focuses on the structural conditions necessary and the techniques used to further the total subordination of the regime’s elite to the Duce. Two specific evolutions allowed the concentration of authority in the person of Mussolini: the construction of a star-shaped politico-administrative system centered on the Particular Secretariat of the Duce, and the extreme personification of relationships in the context of the patrimonialization of public offices. Thanks to his control of the regime’s elite, Mussolini had the whole of the state and party structures aimed at mobilizing and controlling the population under his command. This created a framework which facilitated the emergence of a truly charismatic leadership style, so typical of totalitarian societies.