Category: Roles And Functions Of The State And The Nature Of State Power

Marx has hinted at the possibility of the State becoming relative autonomous of the social relations and the base or the infrastructure. If so, then the State also becomes an arena where revolutionary potential or possibilities could be found. Instead of the base only catapulting revolutionary change, the superstructure can also become a means to bring… Continue reading Neo-Marxian Perspective

This in brief is the orthodox Marxian position on the role and nature of the State both in its oppressive form and after it being taken over by the proletariat. However, a variety of developments have brought this thesis into doubt. It is said that the State is neither exploitative in the capitalist economy nor did… Continue reading Critical Evaluation of the Orthodox Marxian Theory

The State does not lead to its abolition right away. The revolution of the proletariat instead of abolishing the State, as an anarchist suggests, results in it being taken over. Lenin, citing Engels, says, ‘the proletariat seizes state power and turns the means of production into state property to begin with.’92 The state now is in the hands… Continue reading ’Withering Away’ of the State

We have discussed Engels’s view on the origin and nature of the state earlier. Engels in his The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State treats the State as a product of irreconcilable class differences arising out of emergence of private property at a particular stage in historical evolution. The State as a public power is there… Continue reading State as an Instrument for the Exploitation of the Oppressed Class

As Andrew Vincent remarks, Marxian theory tends towards political economy and treats the economic activity as the primary concern. The rest of the human activity is taken as part of epiphenomenona or result of certain antecedent conditions.89 Accordingly, central to the Marxian understanding of society is the differentiation between infrastructure or base and superstructure. Marxian theory gives primacy to the economic structure… Continue reading Base-Superstructure relationship

State as executive committee of the dominant class From the writings of Marx, two streams or accounts of class-state relationship emerge: (i) Communist manifesto’s executive committee view and (ii) Eighteenth Brumaire’s relative autonomy view. The first conceives the state as dependent on society/class relations and the second with a degree of autonomy from classes in society. The first view… Continue reading Two Accounts of the Class-State Relationship

It is generally said that Marx did not develop a coherent or systematic theory of the State82 per se and it is difficult to acquire any clear unitary theory of the State.83 While this is true, it is not that Marx did not touch upon the relationship between class and the State. The following references and writings… Continue reading Orthodox Marxian Perspective

In our discussion on the Marxian (Class) theory of origin of the State, we have seen that the Marxian conception of state is rooted in the understanding that the State is an instrument in the hands of the propertied class of society. The State originated at a particular time in historical evolution and is linked… Continue reading Marxian (Class) Theory of Nature and Functions of the State

In our discussion on the Marxian (Class) theory of origin of the State, we have seen that the Marxian conception of state is rooted in the understanding that the State is an instrument in the hands of the propertied class of society. The State originated at a particular time in historical evolution and is linked… Continue reading Marxian (Class) Theory of Nature and Functions of the State

As a reaction to the growing thickness of the state as a welfare flag- bearer and interventionist mechanism in the economic sphere, a new stream of critique emerged. This is led by the neo-liberals or the Libertarians, chiefly amongst them are Friedrich A. Hayek, Milton Friedman, Isaiah Berlin and Robert Nozick. Their main opposition to the… Continue reading Neo-Liberals or Libertarians: Theorists of the Thin State