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In the Introduction of Strongmen, Ruth Ben-Ghiat provides an overview of the structure of the book and her theories surrounding strongmen—leaders who use power and charisma to rule by force. Ben-Ghiat states that all authoritarian rulers follow common patterns in how they ascend to power, maintain it, and lose it. These patterns include the use of crisis to gain and maintain power, the dependence on public opinion, and the use of different tools from the same authoritarian playbook they have all contributed to over the years.
Part I: Getting to Power explains how strongmen in three different eras—the fascist era (1919 to 1945), the era of military coups (1950 to 1990), and the new authoritarian age (1990 to the present)—rose to power. In the fascist era, following World War I, leaders such as Benito Mussolini of Italy, Adolf Hitler of Germany, and Francisco Franco of Spain gained power by taking advantage of times of civil unrest and unprecedented social change, all attempting to return to traditions and reverse political progress. In the era of military coups, after World War II, strongmen most frequently rose to power through violent upheavals and revolution. These leaders include Mobutu Sese Seko of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, and Augusto Pinochet of Chile. In the modern day, the new authoritarian age, power is seized through legal channels by illegal means, such as voter suppression and fraud. Leaders who fall into this category include Silvio Berlusconi of Italy and Vladimir Putin of Russia. Ben-Ghiat places Donald Trump in this category as well.
Part II: Tools of Rule focuses on the main tools strongmen use to maintain power: nationalism, propaganda, virility, corruption, and violence. Nationalism revolves around a vision of a nation’s greatness, often tying into the concepts of utopia, nostalgia, and crisis to focus on past greatness and/or the urgency of achieving future greatness. Strongmen also tend to focus on national “cleansing,” be it ethnic, racial, or otherwise. Propaganda serves to obscure the true nature of an authoritarian regime, taking advantage of political celebrity culture to form a cult of personality around the dictator and his vision for the nation. Virility is used to assert the strongman’s masculinity, a highly-prized traditional value in authoritarian regimes, both as a reaction to women’s increased political power and to personally show his strength and capability as a leader. Corruption involves financial dealings for the benefit of either the strongman or his supporters, with things such as bribery and exploitation being commonplace. Violence is used to purge so-called undesirable populations as well as to maintain control through fear.
Part III: Losing Power describes the decline of authoritarian regimes, and the methods that can be used to combat them. Ben-Ghiat emphasizes the effectiveness of peaceful resistance, such as via protests, noncompliance, and private resistance. She cites several examples of resistance through time, focusing on the inspiration that the stories of survivors of these regimes can give us. In general, strongmen are ill-equipped to handle the decline of their regimes, and will do anything to escape it. Strongmen thrive on public opinion, and when it is lost, they often lash out and see it as a betrayal of the people, not a consequence of their own failings Ben-Ghiat notes that many of these regimes serve as a cautionary tale for the United States today, in which Trump, she claims, has attempted to slowly erode democratic values, much as Berlusconi and others have done in the past.
In the Conclusion, Ben-Ghiat notes the aftereffects of authoritarian regimes on nations. She also points out that strongmen come to power because they are a reflection of the nation they rule and its citizens, especially of their insecurities, fears, and prejudices. It is key, then, to recognize these authoritarian aspects within society before it is too late, and prevent authoritarianism from taking hold.
In the Epilogue to the Paperback Edition, written a year after the book’s initial publication, Ben-Ghiat reflects on the rising trend of authoritarianism across the world, specifically in the United States throughout Trump’s first presidency, and cautions the reader to hold democracy and its freedoms close.
