MARXIST THEORY OF STATE

ABSTRACT                                                                

Karl Heinrich Marx (1818- 1883), a German philosopher, historian, economics, sociologist, journalist, and critic of political economy and social revolutionary. Marx lived in Prussia where he started perching his ideologies of Communism, he was seen as a political threat as he wrote and published books that outlined his ideology of variety of communism after which he was forced to leave Prussia and fled to England where he started Socialist movement and Industrial revolution assisted him. Through his titles such as The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital gave the theory of State commonly known as Marxist theory of the state. According to Marxist Theory, Marx suggested an ideal and utopian state of equilibrium in society.

KEYWORDS

1. Communist Manifesto

2. Theory of State

3. Communism

4. Socialist Movement

5. Industrial Revolution

INTRODUCTION

By Marx in the Communist Manifesto, the state that was formed in the society is the “Political power, properly so called, is merely the organized force of a class for oppressing other class”. Marx condemns capitalism as he believes that it is the system that alienates the masses. Society and state are two different institutions. In ancient times society was the epicenter of harmony, people lived without any class discrimination and struggle but as time passed society was divided into classes and struggle started there on. The later state was established in society as an instrument of the dominant class for exploiting the other classes in society. According to Engels state is the product of society, gradually but steadily it became the owner of the huge power and stood above society. 

Marxist theory of state can be better understood by bifurcating the ideologies of Marxism into haves and haves not, which suggests that if any one person in society has a car, then rest all people in the society should have the car of the same value and if any one person in a society has one car less than others than everyone else should remove their one car, inferencing that each member of society should have some level of materialistic possession.  Marxist theory of state defies the liberal view of the state as a neutral institution and the Marxist school considers the state as the force which belongs to a particular class of society and the economic development was responsible for the division of society into classes. According to the Marxist theory of state the state was created by the proprietary/ economic/ dominant/ capitalist class to exploit the working class for their benefit, but they believed that society should be classless and stateless. According to the Marxist theory of state Impartial nature of the state cannot be brought down only when the worker class unitedly revolts against the capitalist class. The state should be impartial in nature but cannot be. Lenin says the existence of the state in society proves that classes are irreconcilable and if the class is present in society, it will be used as an organ of oppression/exploitation in the words of Tomar and Daper. Marxists consider the state as a symbol of social justice.

HISTORY, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

Class struggle can be seen throughout traceable history, and the best example of this class struggle is slave practice, even in ancient India the society was divided into four different classes based on birth and occupation namely brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras used to serve the higher class which was The Brahmins. History also gives us many glimpses of Feudalism which existed in the Middle Ages in Europe, at that time the Soviet Union was the first country to eliminate feudalism from their country. Class struggle was very common at times of the industrial revolution which assisted Marx in proving his ideology of the Marxist theory of the state.

Currently, Kibbutzim is a place in Israel where the Marxist theory of state can be seen in practicality as some workplaces and societies are run democratically by workers.

Marx believed that countries would overthrow capitalism and the workplace would move towards socialism. But as the times have changed it’s the completely impractical and inapplicable concept of replacing communism with capitalism. Capitalism is the only way any underdeveloped country would start its development; developing countries can increase their development rate and the developed country would maintain its status.

Communism is a state where everyone is treated equally, it first started as a socialist movement in the early 19^th century in Europe. As Industrial Revolution started it gave a perfect example of what Marx called class struggle and as the Industrial Revolution advanced Socialist critics blamed capitalism for the downfall of the working class.

THEORY OF ORIGIN OF STATES

Marx, Engels, and their supporters like Lenin had defied the social contract theory as the origin of the state. They have observed the origin from a worldly viewpoint which emphasizes that behind the formation of the state, there is no emotion, or idea but the influence of material conditions which they termed as economic conditions. Marx and Engels have said that the state for all purposes, was set up in the slave society because, as in that society, there were mainly two classes, the owners of slaves and the slaves themselves. The owners of the slaves required an organization to sway, exploit and dominate slaves.

CONCEPT OF RELATIVE AUTONOMY

The pre-1789 French monarchy was not controlled by any class. The absolute monarchies of other European states were also not controlled by any powerful class. The first and second empires in France were also not states controlled by either the decayed nobility or the rising Capitalist class. Marx has said that the administrative class is not always well-organized and adequately assertive. Generally, its extent of jurisdiction over the state may not be far-reaching. The ruling class was also divided into various groups and factions. Under such circumstances, it cannot fully control the state machinery. The ruling class is forced to make compromises with all other groups. The lack of organization in the ruling class sometimes becomes a limiting factor in the way of its control over the working class. There is another limitation that comes from the pressure group. In all the liberal democratic states which are economically, the powerful class is under the influence of pressure groups. The similarity in attitude and approach between the ruling classes and another group may not be a normal feature.

Schwarz’s mantel in an Introduction to Power says “The idea of the relative autonomy of the state was anticipated by a distinction which Marx made between the dominant class and administrative caste. The holders of the state power who staff the state machinery and form the government are not normally the same people as those who control the means of production.”

CONCLUSION

Marx from the beginning of Prussia was committed to making the social class struggle free so that no group is exploited by the other and everyone should have an equal standard of living and equal status in society. Some states also tried to implement this practice in the mainstream of their administration but failed immensely because it’s not possible in my view to place the administrative system on the same level as those who are to be administrative. Even if the practical application of the Marxist theory of state come into play, then after a certain level and several communities maintaining no class struggle becomes impossible due to difference in interests and needs. Discrimination is the only way to maintain harmony in society but discrimination should not be based on a narrow basis rather it should be based on the level of education, morality, and experience. No matter how true Marx was about capitalist and capitalism, his critics are proving true to date, but the Marxist theory of state cannot be implemented as it’s a utopian concept. So far, the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba have attempted to create a communist society but they were unable to eliminate personal property, money, and class system and failed miserably after which they shifted to flexible capitalism which now is blending towards a rigid one.

REFERENCE

1. James Chen, What Is Communism? Learn Its History, Pros, and Cons, Investopedia (19^th March, 2022), https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/communism.asp
2. Theories of The State: Marxist, Civil Service India Your IAS Guide, https://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/Political-Science/notes/theories-of-the-state-marxist.html
3. Karl Marx theory of origin of state, studocu, https://www.studocu.com/in/document/jamia-millia-islamia/political-theory/karl-marx-theory-of-the-origin-of-the-state/20801621
4. How Marxism influenced 20^th century, Times now digital, TimesNowNews (05^th, may2022), https://www.timesnownews.com/international/article/karl-marx-and-women-how-marxism-influenced-20th-century-feminist-theory/587336
5. Class struggle, Wikipedia (27^th September, 2022), https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_struggle#:~:text=Class%20struggle%20happens%20when%20the,any%20say%20in%20the%20business.

This article is written by Kushagra Bhagwat, B.A.L.L.B.(Hons.), 3^rd year, Amity University, Lucknow Campus during his internship at LeDroit India.