State and Power

Two conceptions of the nature of the state exist in Marxist theory. The first is that proposed by Marx and Engels. Roughly, this view is that the state is, as Engels puts it, "a product of society at a certain stage of development" (103). The state was needed at the capitalist stage of development to manage the conflict between the capital and labor. Class warfare would not result because the state was managing to maintain a state of equilibrium between the classes. Engels believed that public power (the use of force) was a necessary component of the state, but thought this too was temporary. He believed that the state's need for coercion would dissipate as it progressed toward socialism. This was a progressive view, in which the belief in history prevailed. Marx and Engels firmly believed that the state would be t

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US situation perfectly in several respects. The collusion between the state and the Stock Market (the interests of capital in general) describes the current state of affairs in American politics. Both political parties, at all levels, are so dependent on the financial support of corporations and their owners, that it is inevitable that their interests become intertwined. Engels also saw that the mere threat of force was all that was necessary for the state to maintain power. In American society the threat is there but, because the citizens are compliant, it almost never needs to be exercised. Though, it might also be argued, the use of force on the underclass serves as a constant reminder to the proletariat. This use of force, of course, is presented as being in the proletariat's best interests -- protecting them from the underclass. This, of course, increases the proletariat's identification with the state while simultaneously warning of the consequences of not identifying with the state. In Max Weber's approach to the state, power derives from external relations in order to be used in internal politics. In order to be perceived as legitimate and gain power over their members, states must be perceived as being powerful
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1862
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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