Known for his typological description of fascism, Payne is a specialist in the
Spanish fascist movement and has also produced comparative analyses of Western European fascism. He asserts that there were some specific ways in which
Nazism paralleled Russian communism to a much greater degree than Fascism was capable of doing. Payne does not propound the theory of "
red fascism" or the notion that communism and Nazism are essentially the same. He states that Nazism more nearly paralleled Russian communism than any other noncommunist system has.[2][3]
In the 1960s, his books were published in
Spanish by
Éditions Ruedo ibérico (ERi), a publishing company set up by
Spanish Republican exiles in
Paris,
France, to publish works forbidden in Spain by the
Francoist regime ruling the country at the time. He has been referred to by some historians as a
revisionist due to his views.[4] One of his more famous books is Spanish Civil War, The Soviet Union and Communism, which analyzes
Joseph Stalin and the Soviet government's intervention in Spain. He also wrote The Franco Regime, The Spanish Civil War and A History of Fascism 1914–1945.
Payne uses a lengthy itemized list of characteristics to identify fascism, including the creation of an authoritarian state; a regulated, state-integrated economic sector;
fascist symbolism; anti-
liberalism;
anti-communism, and anti-
conservatism.[5] He sees elimination of the autonomy or, in some cases, complete existence of large-scale
capitalism as the common aim of all fascist movements.[6]
^Payne, Stanley G. (1995). A history of fascism, 1914–1945. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 10.
ISBN978-0299148706. Retrieved 7 February 2022. What fascist movements had in common was the aim of a new functional relationship for the social and economic systems, eliminating the autonomy (or, in some proposals, the existence) of large-scale capitalism and major industry...
Arroyo Menéndez 2020: "To the extent that VOX fits with the concepts and theoretical explanations about radical right-wing parties and authoritarian populists, we would have a prior set of variables and factors that could explain the vote for this party."
García Rada, Aser (15 January 2021). "Spain will become the sixth country worldwide to allow euthanasia and assisted suicide". British Medical Journal. 372. the far right Vox opposed the law
Wheeler, Duncan (2020). "Vox in the Age of COVID-19: The Populist Protest Turn in Spanish Politics". Journal of International Affairs. 73 (2).
New York City: 173–184. This provided an opportunity for Vox, a far-right populist party
Mudde, Cas (2019). The Far Right Today. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 40, 41, 174.
ISBN978-1-5095-3685-6.
Ribera Payá, Pablo; Díaz Martínez, José Ignacio (16 July 2020). "The end of the Spanish exception: the far right in the Spanish Parliament". European Politics and Society. 22 (3): 410–434.
doi:
10.1080/23745118.2020.1793513.
S2CID225618005.