marxian theory of state

8/2/2019 Marxian Theory of State

1/10

sea r ch , ' ed . by W i l l i a m Domhoff, Insur-g e n t S o c i o l o g i s t , S p r i n g.

K a r l Marx and F. Engels (19481, The Co mu ni stManifesto, N e w York: In te rn at io na l Pub-l i s h e r s .R. Mil iband (19731, "Po ulantzas on th e capi-.t a l i s t s t a t e , " N e w L e f t R e v i e w , p. 8 i .John Mollenkorpf (197 5), "Theories of th e

s t a t e a nd power s t r u c t u r e r e s e a r c h , " i n' N e w D i r ec t i ons i n Power S t r uc t u r e R e-

B e r t e l l Ollman (196 8), "M arx's us e of' c l a ss ' , " American Journal of Sociology,March.(1971) , Ali ena t io n: Marx's concep-t i o n o f Man i n C a p i t a l i s t s o c i e t y ,Cambridge U.P.

James O'Connor (19 74 ), The Cor po rat ion andt h e St a t e , N ew York: Harp er Colophon.

THE MARXIAN THEORY OF THE STATEDavid Harvey

Johns Hopkins UniversityINTRODUCTORY REMdRKS

Larry Wolf ' s p aper ra ises a v a r i e t yo f q u e s t i o n s a b o u t t h e role o f t h e S t a t e i nr e l a t i o n t o c ap i t a l i s t economi c devel opment .Some o f t h e q u e s t i o n s are p r a c t i c a l a ndconc ern e xa ct ly how and i n what ways w ec a n a n t i c i p a t e t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n of t h eSta t e i n th e American economy over t h enext few years . A s i n t he 1930's, a n o t h e rt i m e o f e co no mi c t r o u b l e s , t h e p o s s i b i l i t yo f cen t r a l i zed na t i ona l economi c p l ann i ngi s b e i n g a c t i v e l y c o n s i d e r e d ( t o g e t h e r w i t ha more b r u t a l r e tu r n t o "pure market for ces ")as a means t o r a t i on a l i ze an economi c o r de rt h a t h a s o b v i ou s l y become unbalanced and,pe r haps , pe r i l ous l y close -- how closew e w i l l probably never know -- t o be i ngt o t a l l y u nh in ge d. Q u i t e p r o p e r l y , Wolfsees t h e move towards nat ional economicp l ann i ng as c r e a t i ng new opp or t u n i t i e s asw e l l as new problems f o r the r ad ic a l L ef t .Q u i t e p r o p e r l y too , h e a rg u e s t h a t t h emanner i n which t h e move i s made w i l l havean e f fe c t upon th e outcomes. But th e i s su ei s perhaps more complex than th a t . Givent h e p r e s e n t p ower s t r u c t u r e I a m no t assanguine about even th e po te nt ia l outcomesas he i s . I f e e l I am watching a re-runof a t i r e d movie of t h e 1930's, w i t hshades o f t he 1 8 9 0 ' ~ ~s g o a l s s u c h as" s o c i a l j u s t i c e " a nd " c o n se r v at i o n" areg r a du a l ly c o n v er te d i n t o g o a l s o f e f f i -c i ency and marke t r a t i on a l i t y k i nged w i t hn o t a l i t t l e soc ia l i sm f o r t h e r i c h ,f i n a n c i a l s u p p o r t f o r sh ak y c o r p o r a t i o n sand f i n a n c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n s , a n d t h e l i k e .In each of t h e s e t w o pr eceed i ng eras awhif f of na t io na l economic po l ic y makingwas qu i ck l y combined w i t h t he d r i ve t or a t i on a l i ze t he marke t sys tem t o c r e a t e t h every problems it w a s designed t o g e t r i dof on a high er pla ne and i n more concen-t r a t e d fo rm i n t h e l o n g ru n .

Some of th e q ues t ion s which W o l fra i ses are th eo re t i ca l , however, and concernt h e f o r mul a t i on o f an appr op r i a t e concep t ua lframework f o r thin ki ng abou t s t a t e i n t e r -

v en ti on is m i n g e n e r a l . I n t h e c o u r s e o fth es e remarks Wolf ta ke s a few s h i e s a t"dogmatic Marxists" and t ho se who wouldr ed uc e t h e S t a t e t o a " m e r e s u p e r s t r u c -t u r a l " form, t o a mere m a n i f e s t a t i o n o f"the economic bas i s" . While these v iewsare not unknown among Marxists, I havet h e d i s t i n c t i m pr es si on t h a t t h e y aref r equen t l y f i gmen t s of bour geo i s s cho l a r -s h i p , d e s i g n e d t o d i scour age peop l e f r o mt r y i n g t o unde r s t and M a n i n a l l h i scomplexi ty. Thus w e f i nd Marx f req uen t lyp o r t r a y e d a s d e p ic ti n g men and women asdominated by ra t i o n al economic ca lcu la-t ion when it w a s e x a c t l y M ar x' s p o i n t t h a tit i s t h e c a p i t a l i s t mode of p r oduc t i onwhich forces s u c h r a t i o n a l i t y upon u sa a i n s t a l l o f t h e e vi d e nc e as t o what+man beings are r e a l l y a l l abou t . W ef i nd Marx por t ra yed as an economic deter-minist when it w a s p r e c i s e l y M a rx 's p o i n tt h a t t h e realm of freedom begins wheret h e realm o f n e c e s s i t y e n d s an d t h a t iti s o n l y t hr ou gh s t r u g g l e , p o l i t i c a l andp e r s o n a l , t h a t w e can achieve the commandover o u r soc ia l a n d p h y s i c a l e x i s t e n c ewhich w i l l y ie ld us t h a t f reedom. And soit i s w i t h M ar x' s a n a l y s i s o f t h e S t a t e .The e s s a y t h a t follows (which i s drawnf r o m a book tha t seems t o t a k e a ni n t e r mi nab l e time t o f i n i s h ) a t t em p ts t os o r t o u t some of t h e i s s u e s c o nc e rn i ng t h ec on ce pt io n of t h e S t a t e i n c a p i t a l i s tsoc i e t y . The e s say is r a t h e r a b s t ra c ti n n a tu r e and f o r t h i s I apo l og i se , pa r -t i c u l a r l y t o th os e who pr ef er immediate"down-to-earth" analyses o r c r ush i ngexposees. But I believe t h a t t h ep r a c t i c a l q u e st i on s t o which Wolf alludescan be under s tood on l y ag a i n s t someadequa t e concep t ua l and t he or e t i c a l back-g round. Fur t h e r , t h e t heor y has t o berobust enough t o h e l p u s u n d e r s ta n d t h eb e h a vi o u r o f t h e S t a t e un d er a w i d ev a r i e t y o f e co no mic , s o c i a l a nd p o l i t i -c a l c i r cums t ances -- i n o t h e r w ord s, t h et heor y has t o h e l p u s i n S p a i n, F r a n c e ,Br i ta in , Sweden, Argent ina , Chi le , Por -t u g a l etc. , as w e l l as i n t h e U ni te d St a t e s .

80


2/10

For th is reason it i s necessa ry t o resortt o a r a t h e r abstract mode of analysis and t ol e t conc re te inve s t ig a t io ns t ake up thematter of how the th eory works i n ac tu alh i s t o r i c a l s i t u a t i o n s . O bv io us ly , t h etheory remains a mere a b s t r a c t i o n u n t i l iti s pu t t o w ork. A l l I can say i s t h a t t h ethe ore t ic a l s ta tement which fo l lows has beenhe lp fu l t o m e i n my s t ud i es of the urban-i z a t i o n p r o ce s s i n B r i t a i n and t h e U n it edS t a t e s and t h a t I have a ls o found ith e l p f u l a s a means t o th in k about the pro-s p e ct s f o r S t a t e a c t i o n i n t h e p r e s en t s t a t eof ca p i t a l i s t development.p i ec e i n t h e h ope t h a t o t h e r s may s i m i l a r l yf i n d it use fu l and a s a p a r t i a l r e b u t t aland p a r t i a l commentary on Wolf's remarkson the Marxist t he o ry o f t h e S t a t e i ngenera l .TH E MARXIAN THEORY OF STATE

I o f f e r t h e

Marx intende d t o w r i t e a s p e c i a l trea-t i se on th e S ta te but never even began thep ro jec t . H i s views on th e S ta te are scat-te re d throughout h is works and , wi th t hehe lp o f Enge l s ' s more voluminous writ ings,it i s p o s s i bl e t o r e c on s t r u ct , a s , f o rexample, Chang (19 31) ha s done, a ve rs ionof the Marxian theory of th e Sta te . Apar tfrom Lenin 's (1949 ed i t io n) f i e r ce advo-cacy of what might be called an "orthodox"Marxis t posi t ion and G r a m s c i ' s ( 1 9 7 1 ed i -t ion ) pe rcep t ive ana lyse s , few Marx i s t sp ai d a t t e n t i o n t o t h e m a t te r u n t i l r e ce n tl y ,when works by Miliband (19691, Poulantzas(1973; 1975; 19761, O f f e (19731, Altvater(19731, O'Connor (19731, Lacl au (1975)and o the r s , pu t t he ques t ion of t h e S t a t eback i n t o th e fo re f ron t o f Marx is t ana lys i s .These con tr ib ut io ns have rece nt ly beenreviewed by Gold, Lo & Wright (1975). Thisr e v i va l of i n t e r e s t i n t h e Sta te has beenlong overdue, There i s scarce ly any aspec tof production and consumption which i s n o tnow d e ep l y a f f e c t e d , d i r e c t l y o r i n d i r e c t l y ,by St a t e po l i c i e s . Bu t it would be in-correct t o m ai nt ai n t h a t t h e S t a t e has onlyrecently become a c e n t r a l p i v o t t o t h ef u nc ti o ni n g o f c a p i t a l i s t s o c i et y . Ithas always been there -- only i t s formsand modes of fu nc tio ni ng have changed asc a p i t a l i s m h a s m at ur ed . I n t h i s e s s a y Iw i l l t r y t o l a y a t h e o r e t i c a l b a s i s f o runde rs t and ing the ro le of t h e S t a t e i nc a p i t a l i s t societ ies and show how t h e S t a t em u s t , of nece ss i ey , pe r fo rm ce r t a in ba s i cminimum t a s k s i n s up po rt of a c a p i t a l i s tm a d e of product ion .

Most of Marx's e ar l y wr it in gs on th eS t a t e are s p e c i f i c a l l y d i r e c t e d t o wa rd s are fu ta t io n o f H ege l ' s ph i lo soph ica l i dea l -i s m by t h e c o n s tr u c t io n o f a m a t e r i a l i s ti n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e S t a t e a s " t h e ac t i v e ,c o ns c io u s and o f f i c i a l e x p r e s s i o n (of) h epre sen t s t ru c t u r e o f soc ie ty ' (Co l l ec tedWorks, 3, p. 1 9 9 ) . T hi s m a t e r i a l i s t i n t e r -p r e t a t i o n o f t h e Sta te bro aden s somewhat i nThe German Ideo loqy (pp. 53-41 t o a gene ra lconcep t ion i n which the S t a t e is regarded

as "an independent form" which emerges outof "a c o n t r a d i c t i o n betw een t h e i n t e r e s tof the i n d i v i d u a l an d t h a t o f t h e commu-n i ty . " Th i s con t rad ic t ion i s "alwaysb as ed " i n t h e social s t r u c t u r e and i np a r t i c u l a r " o n t h e classes, a l ready de-termined by t h e d i v i s i o n o f l a b ou r . . .and of which one dominates a l l o the r s . "Frau t h i s i t follows " t h a t a l l s t r ug g le sw i t h in t h e S t a t e . . . are mere ly thei l lu so ry forms i n w hich th e real s t r u g g l e so f th e d i f f e r e n t classes are fought outamong one anot her." Engels summarizedt h i s v iew o f th e St a t e many yea r s l a t e ri n an oft- quot ed passage (which Leninregarded as fundamental t o Marxist or-thodoxy) :

The s ta te is t he r e f or e by nomeans a power imposed on s o c i e t yf r o m w it ho ut ; j u s t a s l i t t l e i s i tI fthe r e a l i t y o f t he moral idea , ""the image and the r ea l i t y o freason," as Regel maintain s. Rather,i t i s a pr oduct o f s oc i e t y a t a par t i -cu l ar s t age of development; i t isthe admiasion that t h i s s oc i e t y hasi n vo l ve d i t s e l f in uns o l ub t e s e l f -con t r a d i c t i o n and is c l e f t i n t o ir r e -conci lable antagonisms w h i c h i tis power l es s t o exor c i s e . But i norder that these antagonisms , c la ss eswi t h conf t i c t Qng economic i n t e r e s t s ,shall not consume themselves and societyi n f r u i t l e s s s t r u g g l e s , a p ow er ,apparent ly s tanding above soc ie ty ,has become neces sar y t o moderate theco nf l i c t and keep it w i t h i n the bou n dsof and t h i s power, ar is in go u t o f s o c i e t y , b ut p l ac i ng i t s e l fabove it and incre as in gly a l i ena t in gi t s e l f f r o m i t , is t h e s t a t e . "(Origin of the Fami ly . . ., p . 1 5 5 1 .The con trad ic t i on between par t i cu la r

an d c o r nu n i ty i n t e r e s t s g i v e r i se , o fn e c e s s i t y , t o t h e S ta t e . But p rec i se l ybecause t h e S t a te must assume an ' inde-pendent" exis tence i n o r de r t o guaranteeth e communal in te re s t , it becomes t h elocus of an "a li en power" by means ofwhich individuals and groups can be domi-na ted (TheGeman Ideology, p. 54).I n t h e same way th a t t h e laborer, throughwork, c r e a t e s c a p i t a l as an instrumentfo r h i s or h e r own domination, so humanbeings create i n th e form o f the S t a t ean i ns tr u me n t f o r t h e i r own domination(cf . O lb an , 1971, p . 216) . These var iousinst ruments of domina t ion -- i n p a r t ic u l art h e l a w , t h e power t o t ax and t h e powert o coerce -- can be t r ans fo rmed by po l i t i -cal s t r u g g l e i n t o i n s tr um e nt s f o r c l a s sdomination. Engels summarizes Marx'sv iew succ inc t ly :As the s tate arose from the needt o keep cl as s antagonisms i n check,bu t a l s o a r os e in t he t h i ck of the f i g h tbetween the cZasses , it is normallyt he s t a t e o f t he most power f u l, e co-

81


3/10

nornical ty ru l ing c lass , which byi t s means becomes a l s o th e p o l i t i -c a l l y r u l i n g c l a s s , and s o acqu i re snew means of holding down and ex-p l o i t i n g t h e o p pr es se d c t a s s e s .The anc ient s t a t e was , above a l l ,t h e s t a t e of the s laveowners forhold ing down the s ta ves , j u s t a s t h efeudal s t a t e was the organ of t h eno b i l i t y f o r ho l d ing down t he peasan ts e r f s and bondsmen, and th e modernr e p r es e n ta t i v e s t a t e i s t h e i n s t r u -ment for explo i t ing wage- labourby cap i t a l . Except i ona l pe r i ods ,however, occur when th e warringc l a s s e s a r e so n e a rl y e q ua l i n f o r c e sth at the s ta te power , as apparentmediator , acqui res f o r the moment ac e r t a i n i nd ep en de nc e i n r e l a t i o n t obo t h . tori& of the Fami ly . . .,p . 157).

The use of th e St a t e as an inst rument ofclass domination creates a fu r the r con -t r a d i c t i o n -- t h e r u l i n g class has t oexercise i t s power i n i t s own classi n t e r e s t a t t h e same t i m e as it mainta inst h a t i t s a c t i o n s are fo r the good o f a l l(The German Id eo lo gy , p. 10 6) .c o n t r a d i c ti o n c an i n p a r t b e r e s o lv e dTh i sby t h e employment o f t w o s t r a t e g i e s .F i r s t , those charged wi th expressi ng th er u l i n g w i l l an d t h e i n s t i t u t i o n s t hr ou ghwhich that w i l l is expressed, must afunc tion ing . The o f f i c i a l s o f th e Sta tether e fore have t o "present themselves asorgans of so c ie ty s t and ing above soc ie t y . . .Representa t ives of a power which estrangesthem from society, they have t o be g ivenpr es ti ge by means of special dec ree s ,which invest them with a p e c u l ia r s a n c t i t yand in vi o l ab i l i t y . Consequent ly, even" the low es t po l i c e o f f i c e r " ha s an "au-tho r i t y " w hich o t he r members o f s o c i e t ydo not possess . Vest ing s t a t e o f f i c i a l swi th such " independent au th or i t y" posesa fu r t he r problem. W e have t o exp la in hows t a t e power can have a l l t h e appea rancesof autonomy vis -a-v is t h e dominant classesa t t h e same t i m e as it e x p r e s s e s t h e u n i t yo f c lass power of those classes ( c f .Poulantzas , 1973, p. 281). The que sti onof th e "r e l a t iv e au tonomy" of th e s t a t ehas consequently been a matter o f i n t e n s edebate among Marxists.

A s e c o n d s t r a t e g y f o r r e s o l v i n g t h econt radic t ion bui lds upon the connec t ionbetween ideology and the State .f i c a l l y class i n t e r e s t s c a n be t ra ns fo r me di n t o " t h e i l l u s o r y ge n e ra l i n t e r e s t " p ro -v id e d t h a t t h e r u l i n g class can success-f u l l y u n i v e r s a l i z e i t s i dea s as t h e " r u l i n gidea s". That th i s w i l l l i k e l y be t h ecase results from th e very process of classdomination:

t o be independent and autonomous i n-F=e i r

Speci-

Each new c t a s s which puts i t -s e l f i n t h e pl ac e o f one rul ingb e f o r e it, i s c om p el le d, m e re ly i n

order t o car ry t h rough i t s aim,t o r e pr es en t i t s i n t e r e s t s a s t h ecommon i n t e r e s t o f a l l the membersof s o c i e t y . . .i t ha s t o g i v ei t s i deas t he f o rm o f un i ver -s a l i t y , and rep rese nt them ae theo n l y r a t i o n a l , u n i v e r s a l l y v a l i dones. The cl as s making a rev olu -t i o n a pp ea rs f ro m t h e v e r y s t a r t . . .no t a s a c t a es bu t a s t he r epresen -t a t i v e of the whole of s o c i e t y .(The German Ideotogx, p p . 65 -6 ;cf. Collected Works, 3, p p . 184-5) .

Marx and E ng el s i n g e n e r a l h el d t h a t t h er u l i n g class:r u l e a l s o a s t h i n k e r s , a sproducers of i dea s , and r egu l a t e t heproduc t i on and d i s t r i bu t i on of t h ei d e a s o f t h e i r a ge : t h u s t h e i r i d e a sa r e t h e r u l i n g i d e a s o f the epoch."(The German Ideclouy, p . 6 5 ) .

But i f t h e s e r u l i n g i d e a s are t oga in acceptance as representing the "commoni n t e r e s t " t h e y h a v e t o be presented asabs t rac t i d e a l i z a t i o n s , as u n i v e r s a l t r u t h sf o r a l l t i m e . Consequent ly , these ideashave t o be p re sen ted as i f t hey have anautonomous exi ste nce of t h e i r own. No-t i o n s o f " j u s t i c e " , " r i g h t " , "freedom "are pre sen ted as i f t h ey h av e a meaningindependent of any pa r t ic u l a r classi n t e re s t . The re l a t io ns h ip betw een ther u l i n g i d e a s a n d t h e r u l i n g c lass i srendered opaque by a separa t ion and anid ea l i z a t io n w hich , i n tu rn , ha s th e po-t e n t i a l t o create a f u r t h e r c o n t r a d i c t i o n .Once morality i s un ive r sa l i z ed as "ab-s o l u t e t r u t h " , f o r e xa mp le , it i s p o s s i b l ef o r t h e S t a t e , and even t h e whole modeof produc t ion , t o be judged immoral(c f. Col lecte d Works, 3 , p. 108) . Byt h e same t o ke n , i f t h e S t a t e ca n b e re p-re sen ted as an abstract i d e a l i z a t i o n ofth e common in te r es t , then t he S t a t e cani t s e l f become an ab s t ra c t i nca rna t ionof a "moral" pr in c i p l e (na t iona l ism,p a t r i o t i s m , f as ci sm , a l l ap pe al t o t h i st o some deg ree ). The connections betweenthe format ion of a dominant ideology, thede f i n i t i on of th e " i l lu so ry common in-t e r e s t " i n t h e form of t h e S t a t e and t h ev er y s p e c i f i c i n t e r e s t s of t h e r u l i n gc lass o r classes are as s u b t l e a s theyare complex. Y e t , u n t i l r e c e n t l y a ndw i th th e no tab le excep t ion o f G r a m s c i ' sq u i t e p ro fo un d i n s i g h t s , t h e r ea l r e l a -t io ns hi ps have remained a s opaque t oa n a l y s i s as they are i n d a i l y l i f e . W ec an r e v e a l t h e b a s i s o f t h e s e r e l a t i o n -s h i p s most easily, however, by analyzingthe re l a t io nsh ip be tw een t he S ta t e andthe func t ion ing of a ca p i t a l i s t mode o fproduct ion .( 1 ) The Theory o f t h e S t a t e i n R el a ti o n t othe Theory o f the Ca pi ta l i s t Mode o fProduct ion

82


4/10

The famous Marx ist dictum t h a t "t heexecu t ive o f th e modern State i s b u t acommittee f o r managing t h e common a f f a i r sof th e whole bour ge oi sie " (Communist Mani-f e s t o , p . 44) w a s i n f a c t m eant as a pole-= esponse t o th e w idesp read i l l u so ryclaim th a t the St a t e expressed t he commoni n t e r e s t s o f a l l . But it i s ha rd lys a t i s f a c t o r y as a b a s i s fo r unders tandingthe rea l r e l a t i on s be tw een the S ta t e andcapitalism.a ba s ic unders tanding by showing howthe S t a t e must o f n e c e s s i t y f u l f i l l c e r t a i nb a s i c f u n ct i o ns i f c a p i t a l i s m i s t o bereproduced as an on-going system.exchange value which l i e a t t h e h e a r t o fthe c ap i t a l i s t mode o f p roduc t ion p re -suppose:(1) the concept of a " j u r i d i c a l p er -son" or " ind iv idu a l" (Grundr isse , pp . 243-6 1 , s t r i p p e d o f a l l t i e s of persona l de-pendence (such as t ho se c h a r a c t e r i s t i cof s l a v e r y o r t h e f e u d a l era ) and each anda l l a p p a re n t ly " f r e e " t o " c o l l i d e w i thone another and t o engage i n exchange wi th inthis freedom" (E,p. 163-4);ensu res th a t i nd iv idua l s c an ga in comandover use va lues only through ownership o rexchange:

exchange ( th e ob jec t i f i c a t io n o f w hich i smoney) so t h a t only th e exchange of equiva-l e n t s i s involv ed which means t h a t ind i-v idua ls approach each o th er i n th e marketp l a c e e s s e n t i a l l y as equa l as f a r as t h emeasure of exchange i s concerned (w,p. 241). Money i s , i n s h o r t , t h e g re a tl e v e l l e r .

W e can beg in t o bu i l d such

The so c i a l r e l a t io ns o f exchange and

(2) a system of pr oper ty r i gh ts which

( 3 ) a common stan da rd o f val ue i n

(4) a cond i t ion o f r e c ip r oca l de-pendence i n exchange (as opposed t o person a ldependence) which r e s u l t s from the f a c tth a t " each ind iv l dua l ' s p roduc t ion i s de-pendent on the production. . .and consump-t i o n o f a l l o t h e r s " (w,. 156 and pp.242-5). The condi t io ns of " f r ee indiv i -d u a l i t y a n d e q u a l i t y " are t h e r e f o r e "so-c ia l ly de te rmined" -- they can be achieved"only wi th in the cond i t ion s l a id down byso ci et y and with the means provided bysoc i e ty ; hence ( they are) bound t o the re -production of the se co ndi t io ns and means"(e,. 156). From th i s ar ises t h es e p a r a t i o n o f p r i v a t e i n t e r e s t s f rom s o c i a ln e c e s s i t i e s, h e l a t t e r appear ing as an"a l i en power" ( t he S t a t e ) ove r the ind i -v idua l .

Marx derives a fundamental insight fromthese propos i t ions :E q u a l i t y a n d fr e e d o m a r e t h u sn o t o n l y r e s p e c t e d i n e x ch an ge b a s e don e xc ha n ge v a l u e s b u t , a l s o , t h ee x c h a n g e o f e x c h a n g e u a Z u e s i s t h ep r o d u c t i v e r e a l b a s i s f o r a l l e q u a l i t y

a n d f r e e d o m . As p u r e i d e a s t h e ya r e m e r e l y t h e i d e a l i z e d e x p r e s -s i o n of t h i s b a s i s ; a s d e ve lo p e di n j u r i d i c a l , p o l i t i c a l , s o c i a lr e l a t i o n s , t h e y a r e m ereZy t h i sb a s i s t o a h i g h e r p o w e r (%p . 2 4 5 1 .The exchange re l at i on s embedded i nthe ca p i t a l i s t mode o f p roduc t ion the re f o reg ive r ise t o sp ec i f i c no t ions concern ing" the indi v idu a l" , 'f reedom", "equa l i ty" ," r i g h t s " , ' j u s t i c e " , an d t h e l i k e . Marxobserved th a t such concept s typ ic a l l yp ro v id e t h e i d e o l o g i c a l r a l l y i n g criesof a l l bourgeois revolu t ions and he w a sa c o n s i s t e n t c r i t i c of tho se who soughtt o f o rm u l at e a revolu t ionary workingclass p o l i t i c s i n tenus o f " e t e r n a lj u s t i c e " a nd " e qu al r i g h t s " s i n c e t he s ew e r e concept s r e f l e c t i ve o f bourgeoi ssoc ia l r e l a t ion s o f exchange (see, f o rexample, Cr it iq ue of t he Gotha Programme).ConceDts of t h i s s o r t are more than mereide olb gic al to ol s, however. They connectt o t h e Sta te by becoming embedded formallyi n th e syst em of bou rgeo i s l a w . Thec a p i t a l i s t S t a t e mu st, o f n e c es s i ty ,suppor t and enforce a system of l a w whichembodies concepts of prope r ty , th e indi -v idu a l , eq ua l i t y , f reedom and r i gh t whichco rre spond t o the soc ia l r e l a t i o n s of ex-change under capital ism.

The b as ic paradox which Marx seeks t ou n ra v el i n C a p i t a l i s how a'system of ex-change of commodities base d i n freedom ande q u a l i t y c a n g i v e rise t o a r e s u l t c h a r a c -te ri ze d by "i neq ual i ty and unfreedom"(Grundr isse , p . 249; C a i t a l , 1, chap te r5 and p. 684).c ou rs e, i n t h e c l a s s c h a r a ct e r of t h ec a p i t a l i s t r e l a t i on s of production whicha r o s e o u t o f a l on g h i s t o r i c a l p r o ce s si n which la bo r power became di vor ced fromco nt ro l over the means of produz t ionwhich then became th e exc lus ive pres erv eof t h e c a p i t a l i s t c la ss . Once created,thes e re la t i on s of produc t ion and accu-mula t ion must ne ce s sa r i ly be fo s t e red ,supported and enforced by the use ofS t a t e power. P r i va t e p rope r ty r ig h t s ove rth e c om od i t ie s be ing exchanged must beguaranteed so t h a t "no one se i ze s ho ldof ano the r ' s p rope r ty by fo rce" an d sot h a t " each d ive s t s h imse lf from h i s p ro-p e r t y v o l u n t a r i l y " ( G ru n d ri s se , p . 243) .Labor power i s a commodity which meanst h a t it i s al so a form of p r i va te pro-p e r t y over which the laborer has exc lu-s i ve r i gh ts of d isposa l . Money providesthe veh ic l e fo r a ccumula t ion ; it per-m i t s t h e i n d i v id u a l t o c a r ry " h i s s o c i a lpower, as w e l l as h i s bond w i t h s o c i e t y ,i n h i s p oc ke t. " (m , . 157). C a p i t a li s noth ing more, of c our se, than moneypu t back in to p roduc t ion and c i r cu la t iont o y i e l d more money. I f money i s t o r ep -r e s e n t real v a l u e s t h e same k i nd of S t a t eregula t ion of money supply and c redi t isc a l l e d f o r . Also, i f t he p r o f i t rate is

The exp4--na t ion l i e s , of

83


5/10

to be equa l i zed then bo th ca p i t a l and l ab orm u s t be highly mobile which means t h a t th eS t a t e must ac t iv e ly remove ba r r i e r s t omo bilit y when neces sary. I n genera l , theSt at e, and the system of l a w i n p a r t ic u l a r ,has a c r u c i a l x o le t o p la y i n s u s t ai n i ngand guaranteeing th e s t a b i l i t y of thesebasic re la t i ons hips . The guarantee ofp r i v a t e p r o p er ty r i g h t s i n means of produc-t i o n and labor power, the enforcement ofcon t rac t s , t he p ro tec t ion of the mechan-isms f o r accumulation, th e el im inati on ofbarriers t o mobil i ty o f c ap i t a l and l aborand the s t a b i l i z a t i o n of th e money system(v ia ce nt ra l banking, fo r example), a l l f a l lwithin the f i e l d of a c t i o n o f th e Sta te .I n a l l of t h e se r e sp e c t s the c a p i t a l i s tS t a t e becomes "the form of o rgan izati onwhich the bourgeois nec ess ari ly adopt f orin t e rna l and external purposes, for themutual guarantee of the ir property and- -i n t e re s t s" (The German Ideology, p. 8 0 ) .The cap i t a l i s t State cannot be anythingo t h e r than an inst rument of class dominationbecause it i s organized to s u s t a i n the b a s i cre la t io n between ca pi ta l and labor. I f i tw e r e otherwise , then cap i ta l i s m couldno t fo r long be su sta ine d. And becausec a p i t a l i s fundamentally anatagonist ict o labo r, Marx regards the bourgeoisSta te as n e c e s sa r i lof whichhc t ive v io lence of t h ebourgeois class i s visi ted upon labor. Thecoro l l a ry i s , of course , t ha t th e bourgeoiss ta te must be dest royed i f a c l a s s l e s ssoc ie ty i s t o be achieved.

Capital ist production and exchangeare i nhe ren t ly "ana rch i s t i c" . Ind iv idua l s ,e ac h i n p u r su i t o f h i s o r h e r p r i v a t ein te r e s t s , cannot poss ib ly t ake "the commoni n t e r e s t " -- even of the ca p i t a l i s t class --i n to account i n thei r actions. Thus, thec a p i t a l i s t S t a t e ha s a l s o t o f un ct io n asa vehicle through which the class i n t e r e s t so f th e c a p i t a l i s t s are expressed i n a l lf i e l d s of production, c i r c u l a t i o n and ex-change. I t plays an important ro le i n re-gula t ing compe ti tion , i n regu la t ing th eex plo i ta t ion of labor ( through, fo r example ,legislation on minimum wages and maximumhours of employment) and genera l ly i np lac ing a f loor under the processes ofca p i t a l i s t exp lo i t a t ion and accumula tion .The Sta te m u s t a l so p l a y an important rolei n provid ing "pu blic goods" and so ci al andphysica l infr ast ruc tur es which are necessaryp r e r e q u i s i t e s f o r c a p i t a l i s t p r o du c ti on a ndexchange but which no i n d iv i d u al c a p i t a l i s twould find i t possible t o p rovide a t ap ro fi t. And th e Sta te inevitably becomesinvolved i n cr i s i s management and i n coun-t e r i n g the tendency f o r the ra t e o f p r of i tt o f a l l . State i n t e rven t ion is necessaryi n a l l of these respects because a sys-t e m based on ind iv idua l se l f - in t e re s t andcompeti t ion cannot otherwise express ac o l l e c t i v e c l a s s i n t e r e s t .s t e p f u r t h e r .

th e vehic l e by means

W can take this kind o f a na lys i s oneIn the Marxian theory of

d i s t r i b u t i o n , t h e su r p l u s ac q ui re dthrough ca p i t a l i s t p roduc tion i s s p l i ti n t o i n d u s t r i a l p r o f i t , i n t er e s t t o f i -nance ca p i t a l , and ren t t o l and lords .The homogeneity within the c a p i t a l i s tclass breaks down in to fr ac tio ns ofcapi ta l which are p o t e n t i a l l y i n con-f l i c t w i th e ac h o t h e r . Other fragmen-t a t i o n s -- between merchant capital andi n d u s t r i a l c a p i t a l , for example -- cana r i s e ou t of the d iv i s io ns o f func t ionwi th in the ca p i t a l i s t system. Thesefragmentations lead t o c o n f l i ct s o fi n t e r e s t w i t h in the c a p i t a l i s t classas a whole. Fac tion al str ug gle s whichfrom t i m e t o t i m e may become highlyd e s t r u c t i v e are t h e r e f o r e t o be expectedwi th in the c a p i t a l i s t class . The Sta t ehere p lays the role of an ar b it e r amongthese c o n f l i c t i n g i n t e r e s t s . The Sta teneed not be n e u t r a l i n t h e se c o n f l i c t sbecause it may be ta ke n ov er by a f rac -t ion o f ca p i t a l under ce r t a in circum-s t ances .

W e have so f a r shown tha t Marx'sanal ysis of the c ap i t a l i s t mode of pro-duc t ion can be pa ra l l e l ed a t each s t epby a the ore t i ca l de r iva t ion o f ce r t a i nminimal State functions -- t he equa l i tyand freedom of exchange must be preserved,p r op e rt y r i g h t s m u s t be protected andco ntr ac t s enforced, mobi l i ty preserved,the "ana rch i s t i c " and des t ruc t ive a spec t so f c a p i t a l i s t c o m pe ti ti on m u s t be regula ted,and the co nf l i c t s o f in t e re s t between f rac -t i o n s o f c a p i t a l m u s t be a r b i t r a t e d f o r the"common good" of c a p i t a l as a whole.S t r i c t l y sp e a k i n g , w e cannot go muchf u r t h e r t ha n t h i s i n d e ri v in g a theory ofthe c a p i t a l i s t Sta te . B u t it i s u se f u l t oconsid er two fur th er genera l po ints aboutth e State under capitalism, even thoughw e depart from a t h e o r e t i c a l d e r i v a t i o n .F i r s t , it i s e a sy t o see t h a t ap a r t i c u l a r form of the St a t e -- what w emay c a l l bourgeois s oc ia l democracy --i s pa r t icu lar ly well -equipped t o m e e t th eforma l requ irement s o f the c ap i t a l i s tmode of production. I t embodies a s t r o n gideo log ica l and l e ga l de fense o f equ a l i ty ,mo bilit y and freedom of in di vi du al s a t t h esame time as it i s high ly p ro tec t ive o fprope rty r igh t s and the bas i c re l a t io nbetween ca p it al and labor .market exchange economy characteristicallythrives on a double-edged freedom whichincludes freedom of conscience, speechand employment a t t h e same time as iti ncorpora te s f reedom t o exp lo i t , t o ga inp r i v a t e p r o f i t a t pu bli c expense and t omonopolize t he means of p rod ucti on . Thecommittment of b ou rg eo is democracy t ofreedom i s i n fac t a c o m i t t m e n t t o a l l oft h e se d i f f e r e n t k i n ds of freedom simul-taneously ( c f . Polanyi, 1968, p . 7 4 ) .Under bour geois democracy too , th e separa -t io n between pr iv a te i nt er es ts and comunalneeds as represented by the S ta te i s t yp i -ca ll y accomplished by a separation between

A c a p i t a l i s t

8 4


6/10

economic and p o l i t i c a l power. Pr iv a t ep rope r ty r igh t s fo rm th e b a s i s o f eco-nomic power but under universal suffraget h e p r i v i l e g e s o f p r i v a t e pr o p e rt y arerep lac ed by one-person-one vo te whichforms the immediate basis of p o l i t i c a lpower. Under the se con dit ion s th e rela-t ionships be tween class i n t e r e s t s ,economically conceived, and the St a t e asa p o l i t i c a l e n t i t y are render ed pecu-l i a r l y opaque which , of course , i s ad-vantageous because it i s then much eas ierf o r t h e S t a t e t o m a in t ai n t h e a pp ea ra nc eof a n e u t r a l a r b i t e r amongst a l l i n t e r e s t s .Under these condit ions also, w e a lt h h a s t oemploy its power in di re c t ly . Engels a rguedt h a t :

I t d o e s t h i s i n t wo w a ys : b yp l a i n c o r r u p t i on of o f f i c i a l s , ofw h i c h A m e r i ca i s t h e c l a s s i c exam -p l e , a nd b y a n a l l i a n c e b e t w e e n t h eg o v e r n m e n t an d t h e s t o c k e x c h a n ge( O r i g i n of t h e F a m i l y . . . p . 1 5 7 ) .The mechanisms f o r c lass domina t ion of thebourgeois democratic s t a t e are, asGramsci (1971 ed i t io n) and Mil iband (1969)point out, somewhat more pervasive ands u b t l e t h an t h i s . Also, t he f r agmen ta t ionof th e St a t e i t s e l f i n t o separate i n s t i -t u t i o n s -- Miliband (1969, p. 50) l i s t s ,fo r example, th e government, th e administ ra-t i ve bureauc racy, the mil i tary p o l i c e ,the j ud ic ia l branch , sub -centra l governmentand parl iamentary assemblies -- make itp a r t i c u l a r l y d i f f i c u l t f o r any one f r a c t i o no f c a p i t a l t o g a in c o mp le te c o n t r o l o f a l lof th e in s t rumen t s o f c lass domination (a l -t hough the e x i s t en ce o f a standing army andpolice for ce opens th e way t o m i l i t a r yd i c ta to r sh ip ) . The fo rma l segaka t ion o fpowers between executive, l eg i s l a tu re an dj u d i c i a r y w r i t t e n i n t o t h e A merican c o n s t i -tu ti on ,for example, w a s s p e c i f i c a l l y d e-s igned as a system of checks and balancest o p re v en t t h e c o nc e nt r at i on o f p o l i t i c a lpower i n the hands of any one sub-group.Such a s t r u c t u r e en s ur e s t h a t t h e Sta tecan a c t as a n e f f e c t i v e a r b i t e r between t h ev a ri o us f r a c t i o n a l i n t e r e s t s w i th i n t h ec a p i t a l i s t class ( i n t h i s r e s p e c t t het h e o ry o f p o l i t i c a l p lu r a l i s m c a t ch e s on ea s p e c t of t h e t r u t h a b o u t b o ur g eo i s p o l i t i -ca l s t r u c t u r e s ) .tween economic and po l i t i c a l power lead u st o a second point which G r a m s c i has donemuch t o e l uc id a t e . The ru l in g class hast o e x e rc i s e i t s hegemony over the S ta tethrough a p o l i t i c a l s y st em which it canc o n t r o l o n ly i n d i r e c t l y . I n t h e c o nt e xtof bourgeois democracy t h i s h as c e r t a i nimpor tant consequences.se rve i t s hegemony i n the p o l i t i c a l sphe re ,t h e r u l i n g class may make con ce ss io ns whichare n o t i n i t s own immediate economici n t e r e s t . Gramsci argues, however, that" the re i s a l s o no d o ub t t h a t s uc h sacr i -f i ces and such compromise cannot touch thee s s e n t i a l . H e t h u s a r r i v e s a t the fo l lowing

A c o n s i d e r a ti o n o f t h e r e l a t i o n s be-

I n o r d e r t o pre-

ba s i c concep tion:T h e d o m i n a n t g r o u p i s c o o r -d i n a t e d c o n c r e t e l y o i t h t h e g e n e r a li n t e r e s t s of t h e s u b o r d i n a t e g r o u p s ,a nd t h e l i f e of t h e S t a t e i s c o n -c e i v e d of as a c o n t in u o u s p r o c e s s off o r m a t i o n a nd s u p e r s e d i n g of un-s t a b l e e q u i l i b r i a (on t h e j u r i d i c a lp l a n e ) b et w ee n t h e i n t e r e s t s oft h e f u n d a m e n t a t g r o u p a n d t h o s e oft h e s u b o r d i n a t e g r o u p 8 -- e q u i l i -

b r i a i n w h i c h t h e i n t e r e s t s oft h e d o m in a nt g ro u p p r e v a i l , b u t o n l yu p t o a c e r ta . t n p o i n t , i . e . s t o p p i n gs h o r t of narrow2y c o r p o r a t e e c o n o m i ci n t e r e s t s (w . 1 8 2 1 .Bourgeois democracy can su rv iv e onlyw i th the consent o f t he ma jo r i ty of t hegoverned while it must a t t h e same t i m eexpress a d i s t i n c t i v e r u l i n g class i n t e r e s t .This contra dic t i on can be reso lved onlyi f the Sta t e becomes ac ti v el y involvedi n ga in ing the consent o f the subord i-na te classes . Ideology provides oneimportant charne l and S t a t e power isconsequen t ly u sed t o in f l uence educa t ionand t o c o n t r o l d i r e c t l y o r i n d i r e c t l y ,th e flow of idea s and informat ion . There la t io ns h i p between t he ideo logy of t h ec a p i t a l i s t class and tha t o f admin i st r a -to r s and bureaucra ts a l so becomes ofg r e a t s i g n i f i c a n c e ( M il ib an d , 1969)More importantly, the S t a t e may interna-l i z e w i t h i n i t s e l f p o l i t i c a l mechanismswhich r e f l e c t t h e class s t r u g g l e be-tween ca pi ta l and labo r . Therefore , akey func t ion i s t o o r g an i ze and d e l i v e rc e r t a i n b e n e f i t s a nd g u a r an t e es t olab or (minimum l iv in g stand ards andwork co nd iti on s f o r example) which mayn o t be , s t r i c t l y sp ea ki ng , i n t h e imme-d i a t e economic i n t e r e s t o f t h e c a p i t a l i s tc lass . I n r e t u r n , t h e S t a t e r ece ive s

t h e g e n er a l a l l e g i a n c e o f t h e s u bo r di -na te classes, And, w e may nota paranthe-t i c a l l y , S t at e power can then be used t oco nt ro l th e organ iza t io n of consumpt ionwhich can be advantageous t o th ec a p i t a l i s t c la ss i n th e long run becauseit s t a b i l i z e s the market and accumulation.Po l i c i es which s imul taneously suppor tth e dominant ideolog y and provide materialb e n e f i t s are doubly appropriate of course.W e can unde rs t and S ta t e po l i c i e s tow ardswork ing-cl ass homeonwership, f o r example,as s imu l t aneous ly ideo log ica l ( th e p r in -c i p l e o f p r i v a t e p r op e rt y r i g h t s g a i n swid esp rea d sup po rt ) and economic (minimums t a nd a r ds of s h e l t e r are provided and anew marke t fo r c a p i t a l i s t p roduc tion i sopened up).sh i ps be tw een t he S t a t e and the classs tr u g g l e become somewhat ambiguous;it i s c e r t a i n l y i n a p p r o p r i a te , t h e r e f o r e ,t o re ga rd t h e c a p i t a l i s t S t a t e as nothingmore than a v a s t c a p i t a l i s t c o ns pi ra cyf o r the exp lo i t a t io n o f w orke rs . Fur-t h e r , as G r a m s c i (=, p. 182) po in t s

Under th es e condi t ion s , th e re la t ion -

8 5


7/10

o u t, " i n t e rn a t i o n a l r e l a t i o n s i n t e r tw i n ewi th these in te rna l re la t ions o f na t ion-st at es , c rea ting new, unique and hi st or i-c a l l y concrete combinations". I t i s i nth i s con tex t , tha t the ro le o f t h e s t a t ei n r e l a ti o n to imperialism, becomes veryimportant. In response t o the organizedpower of lab or wit hin i t s borders , a par-t i cu la r na t ion-s ta te may seek to exportthe wors t elements o f ca p i ta l i s t exp lo i-tation through imperialist domination ofother countr ies . Impe rial is t dominat ionhas o ther func t ions a l so -- f a c i l i t a t i n gcap i ta l expor t , p reserv ing markets, main-ta in ing access t o an i n d u s t r i a l r e se rv earmy, and th e l i k e . By these means anat ion s t a t e may purchase t he al le gi an ceof elements of th e working class withini t s borders a t the expense of labori n dependent count ries a t th e same time88 it gains ideological leverage bydisseminat ing the not ions of nat ion alpride, empire and chauvinism whichtypically accompany imperialist policies(cf. Lenin, 1949 e d i t i o n ) .

S t r i c t ly speaking, these l a s t obser -vatio ns apply t o an understanding of theactual his t ory of the Sta te , and ofbourgeois social democracy i n par ti cu la r,i n the contex t o f c ap i t a l i s t so c ia l fonna-t ions . But the or et i ca l and concrete analyseshave t o be in teg rat ed a t some point and therelation between exchange and productionunder c api tal ism and th e gene ral charac-t e r i s t i c s o f t h e p o l i t i c a l system we c a l lbourgeois democracy seems an ex ce l l en tpoint t o begin upon such an int eg ra tio n.The advantage of a pure ly theore t ica lapproach t o the Sta te under the c a p i t a l i s tmode of production i s t h a t it helps us t od is t ingu ish , as G r a m s c i pu ts it, betweenwhat i s "organic" (necessar y) and what i s"conjunctural" (acci denta l) about thepar t icu l a r form assumed by the S t a t e i na p a r t i cu l a r h i s t o r i ca l s i t u a t i o n . Andthere i s clearly a sense in which th e capi-t a l i s t m o d e of production and bourgeois demo-cracy are organic to each o t h e r ra therthan =rely conjunctural ly related. Int h e i r o ri g in s , a t l e a s t , th e r e l a t i o n sbetween the two are not as mysterious asthey now seem. The po l i t i ca l theoryof Locke, f o r example, which l i e s a t t h ero o t of the American constitution andwhich provides a broad id eologi cal bas isfo r most modern forms of bourgeois socialdemocracy, has a definite economic basis ,as MacPherson (1962) ha s b r i l l i a n t l ydemonstrated. W e do not have t o delve to of a r in to Locke t o see the nature of t h i seconomic basis -- w e fin d, fo r example,th e lineaments of a labor theory of value,a d e f i n i t e p r i n ci p l e that only th e laborerhas the r i g h t t o d i sp os e of h i s o r h e rlabor power, a defense of property r i ght saccompanied by a moral imperative t o usethe products of labo r f or productive pur-poses and even a recognition tha t it i smoney which permits what Locke hypothesisedas a "na tu ra l s ta te" o f eq u a l i t y t o betransformed into a moral ly jus t i f i ab le

86

in eq ua li ty vi a accumulation. Marx(Theories of Surplus V a l u e, I, pp. 365-7)regarded Locke 's p ol i t ic al the oriesv ery s p ec i f i c a l l y as an ideological andpo l i t i ca l re f lec t ion of th e ev iden t needsof a n as cen t cap i t a l i s t s o c i e t y . Locke:l lc h a m p io n e d t h e n ew b o u r g e o i s i ei n e v e r g w a g , t a k in g t h e s i d e oft h e i n d u s t r i a l i s t s a g a i n a t t h e oo r k -i n g c l a s s and a g a i n s t t h e p a u p e r s ,t h e m e r ch a n ts a g a i n s t t h e o l d -

f a sh i on e d u ~ u r e r s , h e f i n a n c i a la r i s t o c r a c y a g a i n s t t h e g ov er nm e nt st h a t w e r e i n d e b t , and he e v e n d e -m o n s t ra t e d i n o ne of h i 8 b o o k s t h a tt h e b o u r g e o i s way o f t h i n k in g wast h e n o r m al o n e f o r human b e i n g s "( T h e o r i e s of S u r p l u s V a l u e , 3 , p .5 0 2 ) .Insofar as Locke's po l i t i ca l theory p ro -vided the ideology for bourgeois demo-cracy and became incorporated in thesupers tructural forms of t h e c a p i t a l i s ts t a t e , t o tha t degree the bourgeo is s t a t echampions exactly those same i n t e res t s .While cap ital ism can surv ive under av a r i e t y of p o l i t i c a l i n s t i t u t i o n a l a r rang e-ments quite w e l l , it appears that bourgeoisdemocracy i s a unique product of theeconomic re la ti on s presupposed i n t h isp a r t i c u l a r mode of production.1 2 ) T h e S t a t e i n C a p i t a l i s t S o c i e t y

W e have so fa r considered t h e S t a t ei n a b s t r a c ti o n , r e l a t i n g t o t h e c a p i t a l i s tmode of production i n p a r t i c u l a r . A l -though it i s help fu l t o cons ider t h e S t a t ei n such a manner, it i s dangerous t o pro-j e c t such unders tanding in t o concrete h i s -to r i ca l ana lyses uncr i t i c a l ly . Thedanger l i e s i n the tendency t o pos i t t h eSta te as some mystical autonomous entityand t o ignore t h e in t racac ies and subletiesof i t s involvement w i t h o ther f ace t s ofsoc ie ty . I n the Cr i t ique of t h e GothaPro ranrme (pp. 17-18) , Marx complainsb t h e " r io tou s m i s u s e " which theprogram m a k e s of t h e words "present-dayst at e" . Marx maintains th at such a con-cept ion is a mere "f ict io n" because thes t a t e " is d i f f e r e n t i n the Prusso-Germanempire from what it i s in Swi tzer land , iti s d i f f e r e n t i n England from what it i si n the United States." H e does go ont o poi nt out, however, th at :

"The d i f f e r e n t s t a t e s o f t h ed i f f e r e n t civi i a e d c o u n t r i e s ,i n s p i t e of t h e i r m a n i fo l d d i v e r -s i t y of f o r m , a l l h a v e t h i s i n com-m on, t h a t t h e y a p e b a s e d on mo-d e r n b o u r g e o i s s o c i e t y , o n l y onemore o r l e s s c a p i t a l i s t i c a l l yd e v e l o p e d . T he y h a v e , t h e r e f o r e ,a l s o c e r t a i n e s s e n t i a l f e a t u r e s i nco mm on . I n t h i s s e n s e i t i sp o s s i b l e t o sp ea k of t h e " p r e s e n t -d a y - s t a t e , " i n c o n t r a s t t o t h ef u t u r e i n w h i ch i t s p r e s e n t r o o t ,


8/10

b o u r g e o i s s o c i e t y , W i l l have diedaway.I t i s i n t h i s l a s t sense t h a t w e haveso f a r been c o n s id e r i ng t h e S t a t e i nr e l a t i o n t o c a p it a li s m . B ut as w e move,as Marx would put it, f rom the abs t rac tand general to the concre te and par t icu-l a r , so w e have t o adapt our m o d e ofth inking and ana l ysis . Even th eo re t i -c a l l y it i s impor tan t t o r e cogn izetha t :

" th e s t a t e i s n o t a t h i n g . . .i t does no t , a8 such , e x i s t . What' t h e s t a t e ' stands f o r i s a numberof p a r t i c u l a r i n s t i t u t i o n s wh ic h,t o g e t h e r , c o n s t i t u t e i t 8 r e a l i t y ,and w hi ch i n t e r a c t a8 par t8 ofwhat may be ca ll ed the st a t e 8 y 8 -tern." (Mitiband, 1969 , p . 4 6 ) .St r i c t ly speak ing , Mi liband i s i n c o r r e c tin th i s de s igna t ion . The S t a t e shouldi n f a c t be view ed, l i k e c a p i t a l , as arelation (Ollman, 1971, chap-t e r 30) or as a process -- i n t h i s casea process of e xe rc is ln g power v ia cer-t a i n i n s t i t u t i o n a l a r r a n g m e n t s . I t i s ,for example , the ap pl ica t i on and enforce-ment of the l a w which i s of r e a l mater ia ls i g n i f i c a n ce r a t h e r th a n t h e s t r u c t u r eof l a w i t s e l f . B ut M il ib an d i s q u i t ecorr ec t when he a rgues t h a t th e S t a t ei s much more t han the exe rc i s e o f pow erby a government and t h a t it h a s t o i n cl u dea l l avenues whereby power can be exer-c is ed . I n t h i s t h e p a r t i c u l a r s t r u c t u r eo f i n s t i t u t i o n s i s important ( though notprimary). And it i s use fu l t o have someway of ca tego r i z ing the se "S ta te i n s t i t u -t i o ns " i f o nl y t o draw a t t e n t i o n t o t h ediverse channels through which power canbe exe rc i sed -- t h e j u d i c i a r y , t h eexe cuti ve branch of government, th eadminis t ra t ion and bureaucracy , thel e g i s l a t u r e , t h e m i l i t a r y a nd p o l i c e ,and so on, form var iou s components with inth is system. And the fragme ntation s canbe t aken fu r the r -- c e n t r a l v er su s l o c a lgovernments , d e pa r tm e n ta l r i v a l r i e s andh i e r a r c h i ca l s t r u c t u r e s w i t h i n t h ebureaucracy, and the l i k e , a l l have the i rpa rt to play. Many of th ese f ea tu re s maybe pure ly conjunc tu ra l , bu t the n e t e f f e c tof the fr agmen ta t ion o f in s t i t u t io ns i sprobably t o make it eas ier t o a c h ie v e " t h eformation and supersession of unstablee q u i l i b r i a " betw een f r a c t i o n s of c a p i t a land between the dominant and the dominatedI t i s h a rd l y s u r p r i s i n g , t h e r e f o r e , t of i n d c on te mp or ar y p o l i t i c a l s c i e n t i s t sfocuss ing a t t en t io n on the p roce sse s o fexchange within bureaucracies, betweenbureac rac ie s and l eg i s l a tu re s a t t h esame t i m e as t hey f ind it approp r i a t e t oa n a l y s e c o l l e c t i v e a c t i o n a n d p o l i t i c a ll i f e i n terms o f marke t r a t i o n a l i t y .course, i s t h a t t h e S t a t e as w e u s u a l l yThe poin t t o be emphasized here , of

speak of it i s an abstract ca tegory ,which may be app rop ria te f o r gen era li-z i ng a b ou t t h e c o l l e c t i v i t y o f p ro -cesses whereby power is exe rc i sed andf o r c o n s id e ri n g t h a t c o l l e c t i v e l y w it h-i n th e t o t a l i t y of a soc ia l fo rma t ion .B ut t h e S t a t e i s no t an app rop r i a t e C a t e -g or y f o r d e s c r i b i n g t h e a c t u a l p r oc e s s eswhereby power i s exeltcieed. To appea lt o t h e c a t e g or y " t h e S t a t e " as a "movingf o r ce " i n t h e c o u r se of c o n c re t e h i s t o r i -c a l a n a l y s i s i s , i n s h or t , t o engage i na myst i f i c a t ion .

The conception of t h e Sta te as asupers t ruc tura l form which has i t sb a s i s i n a p a r t i c u l a r mode of produc-t i o n ( i n t h i s case, ' c ap i t a l i sm) is per-f e c t l y a p p r o p r i a te f o r p u r po s es o f t he o-r e t i c a l a n a l y s i s , b u t s u c h a conceptioni s s in gu l a r l y inappr op r i a t e w hen na ive lyp r o je c t ed i n t o t h e s t ud y of t h e h i s t o r yo f a c t u a l c a p i t a l i s t societ ies . Theb o ur g eo i s S t a t e d i d n o t ar ise as someau toma ti c r e f l e c t io n o f the g row th o fc a p i t a l i s t s o c i a l r e l at i o n s . S ta tei n s t i t u t i o n s h ad t o b e p a i n f u l l y con-s t r u c t e d a n d a t each s te p a long th e waypower cou ld be and w a s exerc ised throughthem t o he lp create t h e ve ry r e l a t i o n swhich s t a t e i n s t i t u t i o n s w e r e u l t i -m at el y t o r e f l e c t . Marx p l a i n l y a i d n o trega rd the State as a passive e lementi n h i s t o r y . The i n s t r u m e n t a l i t i e s o fth e S ta te (some of which w e r e f euda li n o r i g in ) w e r e us ed t o g r e a t e f f e c ti n the e ar ly development of capi ta l i sm .S ta t e power was used t o f r e e i n d u s t r i a lc a p i t a l from u s ur i ou s i n t e r e s t ra tes(Theor ies of Surplus Value , 3, pp . 468 - 91 ,t o provide many of th e "necessary pre-r e q u i s i t e s " i n t h e f orm of f i x ed c a p i t a li n t h e b u i l t e nv ir on me nt -- docks, harbors,t r a n s p o r t s y s te m s, a nd t h e l i k e (C a i t a lprovid e mechanisms f o r conc entr atio n ofweal th through the merc ant i le form ofimper ia l i sm (C a i t a l , 1, chap te r 31 and'3, chap te r 2 0 h t a t e power w a s usedindi scr im ina te ly and i n many ins tance sq u i t e b r u t a l ly t o create t h e b a s i c re -l a t i on betw een cap i t a l and l abo r . P r imi -t i v e a cc um ul at io n, t h e i n i t i a l d i vo r ceof lab or from th e means of pro ductionand from the land,was accomplished byfo rce o r through th e l e ga l i z e d v io lenceo f t h e S ta te vi a , fo r example , th e en-

2, p: 233: Grundrisse, pp. 530-3 3*

c l o s u r e act s i n Englandchap te r 2 8 ) . Labor l a w so f i n s t i t u t i o n a l r e pr e ss i on f o rc e d t h ed i sposse ssed l abo r i n to t he work fo rceand he lped t o impose the work d is c i p l in enecessa ry f o r c ap i t a l i sm ( C a i t a l , 1, p.271).w e r e organ ized through t he e xe r c i s e ofSt a t e power i n t h e e a r l y s t a g e s ofc a p i t a l i s t develop ment ( t h i s w a s t h ecase i n nin ete en th cent ury Germany andi s epi tomized by the Braz i l ian case i nmodern t i m e s ) .

Even whole sectors 7%pro uc t ion

8 7


9/10

Reading Marx, i t i s v er y d i f f i c u l t toimag ine the b i r th o f c ap i t a l i sm w i thou tthe exe rc i se of S t a t e power and the crea-t i o n o f S t a t e i n s t i t u t i o n s which p r ep a re dthe ground for th e emergence of full-fledgedc a p i t a l i s t s o c i a l r e l a ti o n s. Y e t w e are sol u l l e d by the imaqe of an economic basis anda supers t ruc ture which mere ly r e f l e c t s i nt h e b a s i s , t h a t w e t e n d t o t h i nk ofth e S t a t e i n a p u r e ly p as s i v e r o l e i nr e l a t i o n t o c a p i t a l i s t h is t o r y . The cele-b r a t e d s t a t em e n t i n A Contr ibut ion t o t h eCri t ique of P o l i t i c a l Economy (p . 2 1 )th a t "changes in the economic foundat ionlead soone r o r l a t e r t o the t rahsforma-'tion of t he whole immense Su pe rs tru ctu re "a pp ea rs p a r t i c u l a r l y m i s l ea d in g i f t a ke na t i t s f ace value and app l i ed t o theS t a t e i n r e l a t i o n t o c a p i t a l i s t h i s to r y .B ut even i n t h i s passage Marx quicklycoun ter s by po in t ing ou t t ha t it i s i nt h e " l e g a l , p o l i t i c a l , r e l i g i o u s , a r -t i s t i c or ph i losoph ic" realms t h a t "menbecome consc ious of c on f l ic t and f ig ht ito u t, " The "economic bas is" and thesupe rs t r uc tur e come in to be ing s imul ta -neous ly and no t sequen t i a l ly -- t h e r e i sa d i a l e c t i c a l in te ra c t io n between them.W have been misled , too , in to th inkin gt h a t S t a t e i n t e rven t ion i sm i s e x c l u s i v e l ya phenomenon of l a t e -- some would say,decadent -- c a p i t a li s m . " S t a t e c a p i t a li s m "w a s i n f a c t v e ry p r ev a l en t i n t h e e a r l yy e ar s o f c a p i t a l i s t s o c i a l f o rm at io ns .Once cap ita l is m matures, of co urse, andonce a l l th e n ec es s ar y s t a t e i n s t i t u t i o n shave been created, the l a w s w r i t t e n ,t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s o f l a w e s t a b l i s h e d b yprecedent , then the quest ion of the S t a t eappears to fade more into the backgrounds imply because bourgeo i s soc ia l r e l a t ionshave become one with it. Indeed , theremay be a movement towards th e p r i v a t i -za t io n of publ ic func t i ons . But the move-ment towards la isse r- fa i re has a lwaysbeen more ideologica l than rea l . Itmere ly amounted t o the in si s t en ce t ha tc e r t a i n f u n c t i o n s of the market should beallowed t o o p er a te f r e e l y . I t w a s verye a s y t o demand " f ree t r ade" i n n ine teen thcen tu ry B r i t a i n when t ha t coun try w a s a tt he cen te r o f c a p i t a l a ccumulat ion andposse ssed th e in du s t r i a l c apac i ty t o domi-nat e the world market. But even a t t h ehe igh t o f l a i s se r - fa i r e , any cha l lenge t ot h e b a s i c c a pi t a l- l a bo r r e l a t i o n w a squ ick ly m e t with coerc ion and repress ionas the Brit ish labor movement quickly foundo u t i n t h e y ea r s of C h a r t i s t a g i t a t i o n .I t may w e l l be , o f cou rse , t h a t t he S t a t ehas changed i t s func t ions wi th the growthand maturing of capital ism. B u t t he no t ionth a t c ap i t a l i sm eve r func t ioned w i thoutth e c los e and s t rong involvement of theS t a t e i s a myth th a t deserves t o be correc-t ed .

The r i se o f c a p i t a l i s m w a s accompaniedand i n some re sp ec ts p receeded by the crea-t i o n o f , and tr a n s fo r m a t io n o f , S t a t e i n s t i -tu t ion s and func t ions to meet t h e s p e c i f i c

needs of capi ta l i sm. The bourgeoiss t a t e emerged ou t of a t r ans fo rma t ion o ft h e f e u d a l s t a t e . The forms of the feudals t a t e va r i ed a great de al and because theywere, i n e f f e c t , t h e r a w materials o u t o fwhich t he bourg eois s t a t e s w e r e fash ioned,they have l e f t t h e i r mark upon contem-porary s t a t e forms. There are, of course ,some impor tant excepti ons. The UnitedS ta te s , Canada, A u s t r a l i a and N ew Zealandhad no f euda l so c i e ty t o overcome ( a l -thou gh c e r t a i n f e ud a l i n s t i t u t i o n s w e r et r ansp lan ted ) and the se s t a t e s d i f f e rqu i t e su bs ta nt ia l l y from Europe (wherevari ous forms of f eud al s t a t e e x i s t e d )and Latin America (where a cu r ious hybr idform of feudal capita l ism w a s implantedby the Spanish and Por tuguese se t t l emen t ) .Within Europe there were s u b s t a n t i a ld i f f e r e n c e s i n f eu d al s t r u c t u r e . Thepower of th e peasant "estate" i n Swedenand th e power o f ag r i cu l t u r a l and mer-c ha nt c a p i t a l i n E ng lan d a f t e r the Dissolu-t i on gave t o bo th of th e se coun t r i e s af a r b ro a de r b as e f o r p o l i t i c a l p ower t h a nw a s p o s s i b l e i n , s a y , S p ai n o r P r u s s i a .And the process of t ransform at ion i t s e l fd i f f e re d markedly f rom p lace t o p l ace .The v io l en t p roce ss o f t r ans fo rma t ion inF ra nc e e f f e c t i v e l y e l i m i n at e d t h e f e u d a la r is to cr ac y . The s low process of t rans-f or ma ti on i n E ng lan d a f t e r t h e c i v i l w a rr e s u l t e d i n t h e s t ea d y i n t e g r a t i o n o fa r i s t o c r a c y a nd l an do wn er s f i r s t i n t oc a p i t a l i s t a g r i c u l t u r e and l a t e r , duringt h e n i ne t ee n th c e nt u ry , i n t o t h e i n d u s t r i a lpower s t ru c t ur e . In both cases t hec h a r a c t er o f t h e t r a n s i t i o n h a s p l ac e dan inde l ib le s tamp upon the subsequentq u a l i t y of p o l i t i c a l l i f e .d i f fe renc es be tween these c oun tr ies havet o be unders tood ag a i ns t th e backgroundof t h es e q u i t e d i f f e r e n t h i s t o r i c a l ex-p e r ie n c e s and t h e c u l t u r a l and p o l i t i c a lt r a d i t i o n s t o which t h e y ha ve g i ve n b i r t h .W e have a l s o t o see t h e i n s t i t u t i o n s oft he S ta t e and the r e l a t io ns w hich aree x p r e s s e d t h r o u g h t h e s e i n s t i t u t i o n s ascons tan t ly i n the p roce ss of be ing re-shaped and re -fashioned. In ce r t a i n ofh i s h i s t o r i c a l s t u d ie s , t he E i h teen thBrumaire of Louis Bonaparte i h a r ,Marx pro vid es us with examples of t h i sprocess a t work. W e are s u r e l y o b l i g a t e dt o u nd er st an d t h i s a s pe c t t o t h e S t a t ei n t he same manner. Y e t i n t h e m id stof a l l of t he complex i t i e s , a cc iden ta le v e n ts , f l u i d and u n s t ab l e i n t e r a c t i o n s ,which surround p o l i t i c a l , lega l , admini-s t r a t i v e a nd b u r e au c r at i c l i f e , w e cannota f f o r d t o l o s e s i g h t of t h e e s s e n t i a lMarxian in si gh ts . Somehow o r ot he r, t hec a p i t a l i s t s t a t e has t o pe rfo rm i t sba s i c func t ions . Shou ld it f a i l t o doso, t hen it must e i th er be re formed o re l se cap i t a l i sm must i t s e l f g ive way t osome oth er method of organiz ing m ate ria lp roduc t ion and da i ly l i f e .d isc uss ion by posing thr ee unresolved

The p o l i t i c a l

It i s pe rhaps u se f u l t o conclude th is88


10/10

q u e s t i o n s -- q u es t io n s w h ich w i l l l i k e l y bereso lv ed as much through concrete materiali n v e s t i g a t i o n s of h i s t o r y as t h r o u g h f u r t h e rt h e o r e t i c a l a n a l y s i s .(1 ) To w h at d eg ree d o th e v a r io u s as-pects a nd i n s t r u m e n t a l i t i e s o f S t a t e powery i e l d t o t h e S t a t e a r e l a t iv e ly au to n o m o u sf u nc t io n i n r e l a t i o n s h i p t o t h e p a t h ofc a p i t a l i s t d ev el op me nt a n d t o what degreecan s t a t e f u n c t i o n a r i e s a c t as p u r el y n e u t r a lo r e ve n s e l f - s e r v i n g arbi te r s i n class and

int ra-class c o n f l i c t ? T he se q u e s t i o n shave been i n t h e f o r e f r o n t o f much ofP o u lan tzas s recen t work .( 2 ) To w ha t d e gr e e c an t h e c a p i t a l i s tS t a t e v ar y i t s f or ms an d s t r u c t u r e s t og i ve t h e a p pe a ra nc e o f q u i t e s u b s t a n t i a ld i f f e r e n t i a t i o n amongst t h e c a p i t a l i s tn a ti o ns w h il e f u l f i l l i n g t h e b a s i c f u n c ti o no f s u s t a i n i n g a c a p i t a l i s t s o c i e t y and en-s u r i n g t h e r e p r o d u c t io n o f t h a t s o c i e t y ?I n o t h e r w or ds , w ha t v a r i e t y o f i n s t i t u -t i o n s i s p o ss ib le g iv en th e a s su m p t io n o fa b as i c u n d er ly in g p u rp ose t o s t a t e ac-t i o n .( 3 ) Which s t r u c t u r e s a nd f u n c t i o n sw i th i n t h e S t a t e are " o rg a n ic " t o t h ec a p i t a l i s t mode o f p r o d u c t i o n an d t h e r e -fore b a s i c t o t h e s u r vi v a l o f c a p i t a l i s tso c ia l fo rm at io n s an d w h ich are, i n G r a m -s c i ' s p h r a s e , p u r e l y c o n j u nc t u r a l ?T h ese q u es t io n s are n o t u n r e l a t e d t oeach o th e r an d th ey l i e a t t h e h e a r t o fany unders tand ing as t o how S t a t e powercan be and i s used i n a so c ie ty w h ich re -mains b a s i c a l l y c a p i t a l i s t w h i l e c o n s t an t l ys h i f t i n g a n d ch a ng i ng i t s i n s t i t u t i o n a lforms.

REFERENCES(N.B. , th e works o f Marx and Engels are re-f e r r e d t o by t i t l e r a t h e r t h a n b y a u th o r i nt h e t e x t ) .A l t v a t e r , E . , 1973, "Notes on some problemso f s t a t e i n t e r v e n t i o n i s m " , K a p i t a l i s -t a t e , N o s . 1 and 2 .Chang, S . , 1931, The Marxian Theory of theS t a t e ( P h il a d e lp h i a ).Engels , F ., 1941 , Or i g in o f th e Family, P r i -v a t e P r o p e r t y a nd t h e S t a t e ( N e w York) .Gold, D., Lo, C . and Wrigh t, E., 1975, "Re-ce n t d ev eloD ments in Marx i s t t h e o r i e s o ft he c a p i t a l i s t s t a t e " , Monthly Review,27, N o s . 5 and 6.G r a m s c i , A., 1 97 1, S e lec t io n s f rom th e P r i so nNotebooks (London).Laclau , E. , 1975, "The s p e c i f i c i t y o f t h ep o l i t i c a l : a ro un d t h e Po ul a nt z as - M il i-band deba te" , Economy and Soci et y ,5 , N o . 1.

Lenin , V . , 1949, The S t a t e and Revo-l u t i o n (New York) .McPherson, C .B . , 1962, The P o l i t i c a lT heory o f P o ss ess iv e In d iv id u a l i sm :Hobbes t o Locke ( N e w York).Marx, K., 1 93 8, C r i t i q u e o f th e G othaP r o ramm ( N e w Yor .&Capi ta l ( ~ L w ork - 3 Volumes).-- 1967; 1968 and 1972, Theo rie s ofS u r p l u s Value (Moscow - 3 V o l u m e s ) .

-- 1970, A C o n t r i b u t i o n t o t h e C r i t i q u eof Political Economv I N ew York)._ ~ ~--- 1973, Grundrisse- ( N e w York) 1Marx, K . and Engels, F., 1952, The CommunistManifes to (Moscow).

-- 1970, The German Ideology ( N ew York) .-- 1 9 7 4 - , Collected Works ( N e w York -4 volumes t o d a t e ) .Mil iband , R . , 1969, The S t a t e i n C a p i t a l i s tSocie ty (London).O'Connor, J . , 1973 , The F iscal C r i s i s o f t h eS t a t e ( N e w York) .O f f e , K . , 1973 , "The abo l i t ion of m a r k e tco n t ro l and th e p ro blem o f l eg i t im acy " ,K a p i t a l i s t a t e , Nos. 1 and 2 .Ollman, B., 1 9 7 1 , A l i en a t io n : Marx's Con-c e p t i o n of Man i n C a p i t a l i s t S o ci e ty( N e w York) .P o l a n y i , K . , 1 96 8, P r im i t iv e , A rch a ic an dModern Economies: Essays o f K. P o lan y i(Boston; ed. G. D a l t o n ) .P o u l a n t z a s , N . , 1 97 3, P o l i t i c a l Pow er an dS o c i a l Classes (London).- i n co ntem po raryC a i t a l i sm(London) .

+The c a p i t a l i s t s t a t e : ar e p l y t o Miliband and Laclau", NewL e f t R e v i e w , 95, pp. 63-83.

1.2.3.4 .5.6.7.8.9 .10.11.1 2 .

LeninHegelProudhonMarxMarcuseS t a l i nChe GuevaraEngelsBakuninLukacsHo-Chi MinhPlekhanov

13 . Tro tsky1 4 . Mao Tse Tung15. Gandhi1 6 . C a s t r o1 7 . R u sse l l18. Bebel1 9 . S a r t r e20. Luxemburg21 . Yat-sen22. Toynbee23. Kropotkin24. G r a m s c i25 . Kiss inger ( !

89

marxian theory of state

Documents