Liberalism vs. Marxism

Philosophy
Political Science > Marx / Engels
Political Science > Political Theory

This paper discusses theoretical differences between Liberalism and Marxism on the question of state formation, its function and especially its future, the withering away of the "state".

4,625 words () | 19 sources | APA | 2005 Pakistan

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the Marxist theory of the state is not only consistent with the understanding of society but also consistent with the historical facts, which reveals that the state is exploitative and infused with acute class bias, serving a particular end. The author points out that Liberalism falls short because it is an effort of the ruling class to replace the truth with lies and hide unpleasantness by portraying the state to be a need of society when it is really the need of only a certain class. The paper concludes that the reality of the state is only understood when it is analyzed through the lens of history, which is what Marxism does; a stateless society is not a fairy tale but a reality that existed in the past and will in the future, when it no longer serves one class. Chart. Many quotes.

Table of Contents
Liberalism
Marxism
Liberalism and the Development of the Social Contract Theory:
How does the State Wither Away According to Marx?

From the Paper:

"Having turned the whole relation as it was understood upside down, Marx put forth that the civil society is "the real bedrock, real stage of history" . The state, envisioned to be a glorious classless entity, is in reality a political formation resulting from class struggles that are continuously developing in the heart of civil society. It is the "organ of a given system of production based upon a predominant form of property ownership, which invests the state with a specific class bias" . Thus, it is really the instrument, the organized political expression of the ruling economic class in the economy. Consequently, Marxism asserts that it is not the final stage in the process of human evolution or "an absolute and eternal being" , but a part of a stage bound to disappear as historical conditions change."