Corporatism

Corporatism is a political ideology and political system of interest representation and policymaking whereby corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, come together and negotiate contracts or policy (collective bargaining) on the basis of their common interests. The term is derived from the Latin corpus, or "body". Corporatism does not refer to a political system dominated by large business interests, even though the latter are commonly called "corporations" in modern American vernacular and legal parlance. Instead, the correct term for that system would be corporatocracy. Corporatism developed during the 1850s in response to the rise of classical liberalism and Marxism, and advocated cooperation between the classes instead of class struggle. Adherents of diverse ideologies, including economic liberalism, fascism, and social democracy, have advocated for corporatist models. Corporatism became a main tenets of Italian fascism, and Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime in Italy advocated the total integration of divergent interests into the state for the common good. However, the more democratic neo-corporatism often embraced tripartism. Corporatist ideas have been expressed since ancient Greek and Roman societies, and have been integrated into Catholic social teaching and Christian democratic political parties. Advocates have implemented them across societies with a wide range of political systems, including authoritarianism, absolutism, fascism, liberalism, and social democracy.