A better word for fascism

It depends on the context of the scenario to which you're referring. How about some examples?

I’d rather not taint the outcome of this little unscientific survey with any of my personal biases or examples. I’d prefer to see at what threshold the word fascist can be used, and if any consensus can be reached to describe the “ism” used just prior to reaching that threshold.

Nothing could be more dangerous than to suppose that "fascism" is a meaningless word nowadays. Just because some people are lazy enough and ignorant enough to call anyone they disagree with "fascists", that does not mean that Mussolini, Franco, Salazar, the Romanian Iron Guard, and the others in Hungary, Brazil and other countries were not accurately described as leaders of Fascist movements, or that there are not fascist tendencies in many modern political movements.

Does this sound familiar?

Poopy-head.

Because it is such a loaded term, its use should probably be limited to historical instances: the governments and rule of Franco, Mussolini, and Hitler. There are other words that can describe other totalitarian dictatorships that at the same time avoids demagoguery and propaganda.

The current use of the word, as the "definition" above indicates, can be so general and vague enough to include all sorts of political phenomena while at the same time, of course, carrying the mental images of concentration camps, Nuremberg rallies, and dancing in front of the Eiffel Tower.