Back to fascism. :-) I think it can manifest on either the far right or the far left. In either case it becomes more and more difficult (or dangerous) for people to publicly espouse opinions at variance with the ruling system. The media is either directly controlled...or subtly controlled...or made to fall into line through financial inducements. People who do not agree with the government's policies are accused of being disloyal or unpatriotic. Repressive laws are strengthened and civil liberties are curtailed. The public is encouraged to fear some "enemy" (internal or external or both) in a hysterical fashion, and to worship the military. Military solutions are proposed as the ultimate way to solve all really serious problems (while most of those problems have in fact been caused by the military aggressiveness of the fascist state in the first place). As soon as one official enemy is eliminated (or becomes unavailable for some reason) another is created...through a powerful propaganda program launched by the national media.

And so it goes.

Such governments eventually bring about their own demise. The question is, how soon? And how much damage will they cause in the meantime?