When fascism comes to America, what will it look (and feel) like?

Very much like what we have now, because a version of fascism is already here.

I am not the first to worry about the prospect of fascism in America. In 1935, for example, Sinclair Lewis published It Can’t Happen Here, which is a fictional account of a fascist take-over of the country. In 2008, Joe Conason published It Can Happen Here. The book’s subtitle, Authoritarian Peril in the Age of Bush, tells all we need to know.

Others have also breached the topic, but these works suffice. Lewis’ and Conason’s tomes ought to caution against too readily concluding that fascism could happen here. Nevertheless, there are grounds for concern.

Fascism is associated with Hitler’s brutal dictatorship in Germany between 1933 and 1945, or Mussolini’s milder version in Italy between 1922 and 1943, Franco’s in Spain between 1936 and 1975, or a host of lesser-known personalities in various countries at different times.

Fascism is a totalitarian political system, in which an all-powerful central government directs a nation’s economy. Virtually no aspect of society is independent of the state, which is a one-party regime, dominated by an omniscient leader. Although heavily influenced by populistic themes, fascist ideology is at once anti-democratic and collectivist.

At first blush, the American variety of fascism is different. For one thing, the traditional institutions associated with government in the United States are still in place. Sadly, however, the primary principles of American governance — especially limited government, federalism, individual liberty, personal responsibility, and so on — have been severely compromised.

I am reminded of The Roman Revolution, published in 1939 by the late Ronald Syme. The book covered Roman history from Julius Caesar’s assassination in 44 B.C.E. till Augustus’ death in 14 C.E. Its main thesis is that the Roman Republic’s institutions and processes, which had worked during most of the republican era, had become inadequate for the needs of empire. Without drastically changing the Republic’s major institutions, Augustus “revolutionized” the key features of Roman government consistent with his monarchial rule. He did so in ways that went largely unnoticed during his lifetime.

The Roman Revolution was inspired by fascism’s emergence in Italy and Germany, which is why it has much to teach Americans today.