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Theory of the Essence of the Capitalist State

Marxist theory of the bourgeois state as the instrument of bourgeoisie for the exploitation and oppression of the proletariat. In order to justify the eternal legitimacy of the ruling exploiting classes, they have always tried to conceal the origin and the essence of the state and deceived the masses of the working people with “divine right of kings”, etc. During its revolutionary period, the bourgeoisie had put forth the “theory of social contract” and the “theory of the transfer of rights” to explain the origin of the state, which played a progressive role in the struggle against feudalism. However, the “theory of social contract” and other theories based on abstract theory of human nature denied the class essence and economic root cause of the state. In their initial critique of the bourgeois state in the 1840s, Marx and Engels made a preliminary demonstration of the essence and economic functions of the capitalist state based on the fundamental principles of historical materialism. In The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels pointed out that “the executive of the modern state is nothing but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.” Later, in A Critique of Political Economy, Capital and other works, united with the struggle practice of the proletariat, Marx and Engels made more investigations on the origin and essence nature of the capitalist state and its functions. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, under the new historical conditions, Lenin has made further elaboration of Marx and Engels’ thoughts on the essence of the state and the bourgeois state, enriching the Marxist theory of the essence of the capitalist state…

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