KARL MARX STATE: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

2.3 Political Science

Submitted By:

Subham Das

UID: SM0117051

1st Year 2nd Semester

Faculty-in-charge

Dr. Mayengbam Nandakishwor Singh

National Law University, Assam

Contents

1. Introduction
1.1 Literature Review
1.2 Scope and Objectives
1.3 Research Questions
1.4 Research Methodology
2. The Idea of State
2.1 Elements of State
2.1.1 Population
2.1.2 Territory
2.1.3 Government
2.1.4 Sovereignty
3. Karl Marx on State
3.1 Origin of State
3.2 Class View of State
3.3 Evolution of State
4. Functions of State: According to Karl Marx
4.1 Functions of State in Capitalist System
4.2 Functions of State in Socialist System
5. Critical Analysis of Karl Marx on the Idea of State
6. Conclusion
7. Bibliography
 1. Introduction

In this paper the researcher tries to critically analyze the various aspects of state according to
Karl Marx who is one of the most prominent figure in Social Science especially in Political
Science. It discusses the concept and characteristics of the state, and also examines the central
tenets and elements of the Marxist perspective on the origin and nature of the state.

At first the researcher would attempt to give an account of the overall meaning of state. One of
the simplest definition of state would be A state is a compulsory political organization with a
centralized government that maintains a monopoly of the legitimate use of force within a
certain geographical territory. There are mainly four main elements of state a) population b)
territory c) government d) sovereignty. These elements will be carefully studied in this project
later.

Marx became interested in political theory after moving to Dresden in 1842.1 During his stay
there, he began to scrutinize the conditions leading to the political revolution in France and
England, and this was where he started developing an interest in political philosophy. It is hard
to draw out a coherent theory of the political state given by Marx; however, his political
writings do constitute a set of fundamental principles which frame the discussion about the
formation of the state and nature of state political activities. These propositions will later be
looked into in this research.

The researcher would at last try to critically analyze the merits and demerits of Karl Marx’s
view on state.

1.1 Literature Review

 Ken Morrison, MARX, DURKHEIM, WEBBER (FORMATIONS OF MODERN SOCIAL

THOUGHT), Sage publications, 2008
This book played a pivotal role in the research. Here, Ken Morrison has systematically placed
the events leading to the formation of modern social thought. It provides an insight on the
ideology of Karl Marx and how he used economic and social concepts to explain historical
development. The chapter on Marx started with a short introduction to his life where Morrison
talked about how Marx first got influenced by reading the works of Georg Hegel. The book

1
Ken Morrison, MARX, DURKHEIM, WEBBER (FORMATIONS OF MODERN SOCIAL THOUGHT), Sage publications,
2008, 127
has included the theoretical perspective of materialism, which means to look at human
problems by studying the real conditions of human existence, especially those related to the
satisfaction of simple economic and material needs. His view on the functions of the state has
been well organized in the book; and this immensely helped the researcher to carry on with
this research paper.

 Peter Singer, A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION, MARX, Oxford University Press, 2000
The author Peter Singer has created an admirably balanced portrait of Karl Marx and his
achievements in this book. It has been proven to be useful to the researcher so as to gain some
insight about the life of Marx and how and when he was inspired to hold such revolutionary
ideas. The books talk about the rough start of his intellectual career at the age of seventeen
years, when he went to study law at the University of Bonn. Within a year he had been
imprisoned for drunkenness and slightly wounded in a duel.2 It has also mentioned about
the tremendous connection between Marx and G.W.F. Hegel, whose philosophy has
enriched the works of the former. The text ends with a critical assessment of Marx’s ideas.

 R.C. Agarwal, POLITICAL THEORY (PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL SCIENCE), S. Chand

Publishing, 2014
This book has been an immense help to the researcher to understand the various terms
primarily needed to understand the topic at hand. It explains the origin of the state and
different views of what the functions of the same should be.

 Dr. Vidya Dhar Mahajan, POLITICAL THEORY (PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL SCIENCE), S.

Chand Publishing, 2015
Using this book, the researcher makes an attempt at understand the concept of the state and its
functions in a comprehensive manner. The book helps the researcher to get the basic idea
about the origin and significance of state, its role and functions and its relation to the different
spheres of public life, i.e., social, economic and cultural. On the importance of the study on
Marxism, the books say “In order to have a complete picture of modern society, a study of
Marxism is very essential as it is playing an important part in the lives of millions of human-
beings all over the world.” The chapter Marxism and Bolshevism throws light on different
matters such as dialectical materialism, historical materialism, economic interpretation of

2
Peter Singer, A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION, MARX, Oxford University Press, 2000, 3
history or economic determinism, theory of class struggle, labor theory of value, capitalism,
Marx on state, criticism, merits, etcetera.

1.2 Scope and Objectives

Scope

This project shall focus to understand the general meaning of state and its various elements.
Then understand the Marxist view on state and understand its functions. At the end to critically
analyze the Marxist view of state and find outs its merits and demerits.

Objectives

 To try and understand the idea of State

 To understand the Karl Marx view on state
 To critically analyze Marx view on state its merits and demerits

1.3 Research Questions

 What is Karl Marx view on State?

 What are the merits of Marxist view on State?
 What are the demerits of Marxist view on State?

1.4 Research Methodology2.

In this research work, the Doctrinal Method of Explanatory Research Design has been
employed for conducing the research. Only secondary sources such as books, articles and
journals have been used for the collection of information for the research work.

2. The Idea of State

There is no definition of the state that is universally accepted and this is not peculiar to the
concept of the State; it is a fundamental and an unresolved issue in the study of human society.
According to Rodee, Anderson, Christol, and Greene (1983: 20), a measure of the difficulty of
answering such questions as what the state is, how it begins and develops, and what it does, is
the reluctance of many of those who offer opinions about the nature of the state to define
precisely what the state is. As they put it, ‘‘no one definition will please everybody, and many
definitions may please only those who write them.’’3

One of the simplest definition of state would be A state is a compulsory political organization
with a centralized government that maintains a monopoly of the legitimate use of force within a
certain geographical territory.

Other than Marxist theory- a number of other perspectives have been developed to explain the
birth and nature of the State. The emergence of these varying perspectives highlights conflict
among philosophers and scholars on the origin and character of the State. A brief examination
of some of these theories has been presented by Oyediran (1998: 19) as follows:

 The Divine Theory – The theory of divine origin is the oldest among all theories.
According to this theory state is established and governed by God himself.
 The Social Contract Theory – The concept of popular sovereignty constitutes the base of
this theory. The theory of popular sovereignty suggests that the state is the creation of
men through a social contract to which they had all consented. It was theorized by
mainly there theorists namely Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau
 The Force Theory – According to this theory state is a creation of conquest and coercion
of the weak by the strong. The State was seen as evil because the it was a representation
of the oppression of the weak by the strong.
 The Natural Theory – This theory is mainly derived from the Greek philosopher
Aristotle’s idea that man is a political animal whose self-actualization can only be
achieved in a state. In this theory Man, and the State were seen as mutually inclusive
and inseparable and that the state is a natural creation.

2.1 The Elements of State

The four main elements of state namely a) population b) territory c) government d) sovereignty
would be discussed below.

2.1.1 Population

The State is composed of men, women and children. The population of the state can thus be
defined as including citizens or subjects who enjoy full civil rights and owe allegiance,

3
Bassey Obo, Ugumanin & Coker, Maurice, “The Marxist Theory of the State: An Introductory Guide.
Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences” (2014) 528
nationals or natives of the dependencies of a State, slaves, aliens or citizens and subjects of
other States who reside within the territory of a given state.4

2.1.2 Territory

Every State is situated within a defined territory with clearly recognizable boundaries that do
not overlap the area of any other State. A State’s territory includes not merely the land itself,
but also the air above the land, the waters extending outward from its coast for a distance of
twelve miles, the lakes and mountains and all other topographical features as well as natural
resources

2.1.3 Government

The government is considered as the soul of the state. According to Harold Laski “every State,
in short, is a territorial society divided into government and subjects, the government being a
body of persons within the territorial society, who are entitled to use coercion to see that these
imperatives are obeyed”

In a democracy the government has three organs-

a) Legislature- performs law making functions.

b) Executive- enforces and implements the laws.
c) Judiciary- performs adjudication functions.

2.1.4 Sovereignty

According to Crick According to Crick (1973), the modern state is, above all also a sovereign
state: it seeks to be the sole authority and the only effective power within a given territory, and
seeks to preserve the independence of that territory. There are two types of sovereignty- internal
and external sovereignty.5

Internal sovereignty means the power of the State to order and regulate all the activities of all
the people, groups and institutions inside its own territorial boundaries. All these institutions
must act in accordance with the laws of the state failing which the state can punish according to
the laws of the state. External sovereignty means the complete freedom of the state from

4
Bassey Obo, Ugumanin & Coker, Maurice, “The Marxist Theory of the State: An Introductory Guide.
Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences” (2014) 529
5
Bassey Obo, Ugumanin & Coker, Maurice, “The Marxist Theory of the State: An Introductory Guide.
Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences” (2014) 529
external control which means that the state is not bound to follow the orders of any other state if
it does not intend to.

No state can become a state without sovereignty.

 3. Karl Marx on State

In the book Communist Manifests by Marx and Engels, the modern state has been defined as
“...a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.” So according to
Marx, the capitalist class who own most of society’s wealth and means of production are the
ones who hold control over the functioning of the state. The proletariat or the working class
people are the ones who are subjugated by the bourgeoisie, although they are more in numbers
than the latter.

3.1 Origin of the state

The Marxist view is that the state arose as a result of the division of society into antagonistic
classes for the purpose of curbing the exploited majority in the interest of the exploiting
minority.6 It is an organization by which the rule of a dominant class can be maintained over a
weaker class. He also says that the formation of the state is not the result of the will of the
people or an instrument for settling the various juxtaposing interests of the people. It came into
existence after the emergence of private property which led to the division of the society into
two classes, namely the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. Also, the state is considered to be an
expression of human alienation; it is the consequence of being a mechanistic part of a social
class, the condition of which estranges a person from their humanity.

3.2 Class view of the state

Class view of the state is a theory in itself and this theory is associated with Marxism.
According to this theory, society is divided into dominant and dependent classes.7 The state is
considered to be lesser than economic power and this is why, the dominant class is the one that
has all the political power in its hands. Also, state is neither a natural or ethical institution;
instead it is considered as an artificial device created by the dominant class.

There is a clear cut distinction between state and society according to Marx and they do not
come into existence together. As the state has not originated out of the people’s own will, it
becomes merely a tool by which the dominant class extracts benefit for themselves. It has not
existed from eternity; the state therefore can be termed as an unnatural institution. It is

6
Dr. V.D. Mahajan, Political Theory (Principles of Political Science), S. Chand Publishing, 2015, 123
7
Dr. V.D. Mahajan, Political Theory (Principles of Political Science), S. Chand Publishing, 2015, 155
neither the result of reason, as given by the idealists nor a wilful creation as contended by the
liberals; but it is an instrument of class power whose objective is to serve the interests of the
ruling class at the expense of the antagonistic class. The state is the embodiment of social
injustice but the ultimate aim is to establish a classless society where there is real equality
through a revolution of the proletariat.

3.3 Evolution of State

According to the Marxian theory, the evolution of the state is categorised into five stages viz.
the Primitive-Communal system, the Slave system, the Feudal system, the Capitalist system,
dictatorship of the proletariat and the Communist state. An important observation of these
stages is that the exploitative nature of the state remains the same throughout history.

 The Primitive-Communal System

This stage is a pre-state stage and denotes the earliest stage of social life. A political state did
not exist in this period but rather a social state existed where the instruments of labour were of
the most primitive kind. There was community ownership and people were engaged in
common labour such as hunting and gathering. Also, the fruits of their labour were shared by
all. There wasn’t any clear cut demarcation on the basis of class as there was no concept of
private ownership.
However with time, division of labor and exchange of products emerged as a result in the
development of the productive forces such as metal instruments replacing stone and wooden
ones, new ways of production in agriculture, animal husbandry, handicrafts etcetera. Here, the
concept of private ownership emerged.

 The Slave System

The concept of private property emerged in this system not only in the form of means of
production but also in the form of slaves who were treated as the property of their masters.
They were provided with food and water by their masters, which was merely enough to ensure
their survival. To ensure that the dominance of the masters continued, the state machinery was
created. The prime function of the state was to protect the private property of the slave-
owners. The state was also to see that the slave owners got a constant supply of slaves from
prisoners of war and bankrupt debtors who were turned into slaves.8
However, in due course of time, slave system was replaced by the feudal system as large-scale
agriculture became the chief mode of production.

 The Feudal System

Under the feudal system, the means of production consisted primarily in the form of land
which was owned by feudal lords and labour was done by peasants. 9 A difference in this
system and the previous one is that the subjugated class, i.e. the serfs, had their own personal
belongings and were not considered as the slaves of the feudal lords.
However, it is said that the exploitation in this period was more rampant and the class
demarcations became clearer. This system was then replaced by the capitalist system after the
mechanization of production processes.

 The Capitalist System

The Marxist theory mainly focuses on this system. It is also considered to be the system of the
present time. This system symbolises the emergence of industries and industrial production
which solidified the division of labour even more than before. The means of production were
alienated into the hands of a few or the capitalist class while the majority of the society was
converted into the worker class.
There was no restriction on movement of the workers from one industry to the other but the
working conditions were always in the hands of their employers. In this sense, they did lose an
amount of their freedom.

 Dictatorship of the Proletariat

This period denotes the rule of the proletariat after a revolutionary transformation of
overthrowing the capitalist system. There is “bloody revolution” which gives way to the
dictatorship of the proletariat. It is a transitional period between the capitalist system and the
emergence of a classless society.
Dictatorship of the proletariat is considered necessary for crushing the opposition by the
exploitative capitalist class and for guiding the population in the journey of economic socialist
reconstruction. The twin aspects of this stage are that one is destructive and the other is

8
Dr. V.D. Mahajan, Political Theory (Principles of Political Science), S. Chand Publishing, 2015, 576
9
Dr. V.D. Mahajan, Political Theory (Principles of Political Science), S. Chand Publishing, 2015, 576
constructive. The constructive aspect of this sage requires great effort and is dependent upon
scientifically educated staff.

 The Communist System

As the dictatorship of the proletariat continues and class is abolished, the state will have no
suppressive functions to perform. The state will gradually wither away and cease to exist. A
new classless society is formed which Marx calls the “communist” system. All the property is
owned by the community and each person contributes and receives according to their abilities
and needs.
13