Karl Marx : Marxian Perspective of State : its Features and Critical Evaluation

Features of Marxian Perspective of State :

1. Marxian view holds that all political relations are dependent upon economic relations. 

2. The conflict between the bourgeoise and the workers is the core of politics. 

3. Society is an ever-growing and ever evolving system. Its final form of evolution is destined to be and a class less and stateless Society. 

4. Class struggle between the Have and Have Nots determines and working of state. Hence an analysis of class structure as well class struggle is essential for analysing the nature of state at a particular time. 

5. Capitalism and the principle of open competition that it advocates are instruments of economic, social and political exploitation of the poor. 

6. Marxism advocates the need to push the society by a revolution towards socialism.

7. Marxian perspective advocates revolution as the means of political change. it stands for the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat for the final liquidiation of capitalism. 

8. Since politics has roots in economics, study of politics can be done only on the basis of the study of economic relations. 

9. The essence of man is sociality and man loses humanity without it. Men must be understood in the totality of his social relations. 

10. Marxism regards the establishment of classless and stateless society as the final aim of social development. 

The marxian perspective holds that state is the organised political power of the Haves/owners of means of production and is designed to serve their class interest and to keep the oppressed classes under control. It regards the capitalism as a is to be replaced by socialist state true or a Revolution. it supports the creation of a classless and stateless Society.  

Critical Evaluation of Marxian Perspective of State :

1. Marks gives all importance to the matter only and ignores the importance of human beings. 

2. Marxism wrongly accepts the existence of only two economic classes haves and have nots. It ignores the middle class which is usually the larger land more active class. 

3. Marxian theory of surplus value which is based on the labour theory of value is not a correct theory. It wrongly holds that value depends on labour. The value of a thing depends on several factors not only on labour. 

4. The Marxist ideal of a classless and stateless Society is also Utopian. Classless and stateless society never possible to establish. 

5. Marxism wrongly ignores the eternal and universal principles of moral conduct. It directly says that man as a Slave of the material conditions of life. Man can exist but not live under communism. 

6. Marxism wrongly gives all importance to the proletariat. It ignores the importance of other social classes. 

7. Marxism does not fully explain the nature of the communist society that it holds to be ideal. In his theory he never explained about his scientific socialism and Lenin explained it only in parts. 

8. The theory of dialectical materialism of Marx stands borrowed from hegel and it wrongly holds what is real is matter. The reality is that matter by its very nature is inert and to regard it as living and Revolutionary is incorrect. 

9. Marxism and estimate the strength of nationalism and give an unduly big and almost total importance to proletarian class consciousness and class Unity at all levels of life local, regional, National and International. 

10. Marx wrongly criticizes private property and religion as evils. Both are natural, essential and useful social institutions. 

11. No one can deny the role played by material factors in the evolution of society. Infact Marx very correctly emphasised this factor. However his division of the whole of historical process of evolution in five stages was arbitrary and un objective. 

12. No doubt economic factors are very important and key factors of all social changes, yet these cannot be regarded as the all important determinants of social change. Communism over em phasizes the importance of economic factors. 

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