Marx's Theory of Politics JOHN M. MAGUIRE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS CAMBRIDGE LONDON' NEW YORK' MELBOURNE Published by Ihe Syndics of Ihe Cambridge Umvcrsily Press The Pill Building, Trumpinllon Sireel. Cambridge l'R2 IRP Henrie), House. 100 EU!llon Road. l.l.ndon SWI 2DIt 3Z Ea~1 ~71h Sireel. New York. S'V 10011. USA 196 Beaconsfield Parade. Middle Park. Melbourne 3106. Au~lrulia W, Cambridge Universil), Pre~s ten8 Firsl published 1\178 Printed in Great Britain at Ihe Univcrsil), Press, Cambridge Libra,.,. uf Cungr£s., Cataloguing in PuhliclJr;,m Dal" Maguire. John M. or Marx's Iheory politic:s. Bibliography: p. Includes index. I. Mau. Karl. 1818-1883 - Polilical science. i. Tille. I033·M299M33 320·S'32 77'90214 1S8N 0 521 ZI9SS 8 Thanks are due lO Burt Franklin and Co. for permission 10 include in chapter I part of J. M. Maauire. 'Marx, Engels and TOlalitarianism', Rt'·it .. ·.' ;n EuroptlJn History. II. 4 (December 1976), 671-2: and to Reidel Publishinl Co. ror permission to include in chapler 6 part of J. M. Maguire, • Marx c.ln Ideology, Power and Force'. Thtory and Dtsi,,.. 7, 31 S-19. Contents AcknowledRemellts vii Introduction The early theory of politics 6 2 Perspectives on revolution: Marx'!,; position on the eve ~1~8 ~ 3 Germany: revolution and counterrevolution 48 4 Reflections ~n the reaction in France 77 5 Problems of political action I 13 6 Politics in the mature economic theory 138 7 The later political writings 171 8 Aspects of the general theory 205 Conclusion 240 Bibliograph)' 243 Index 249 for Aveen Acknowledgements I have made great demands on a vast number of people in pre par1q Ibis book. and I have DOl been denied. I received help of various kinds from Brian BIUT}'. Pierre Birnbaum, Jerry Cohen. Michael Evans, John Goldthorpe. Max Hanwr:lI. Colin Lucas, Steven Lukes, David McLellan. Tim Mason. Zbipiew Pelczynski and Alessandro Pizzorno. I single ou[ oaly three o( my academic creditors. Alan Ryan. who was my supcrvisorduring my doctoral IaCBl'Ch at Oxforc~. has helped more dian anyone else with the eonlent of the book. He mixes encouragement. rigorous criticism and a pup of the point of such enterprises in a quite unique blend. and I am extremely grateful to him. Leszek Kolakowski. who replaced him for a time. p'-e me both insights and en couragement at a ,"ital stage in the research. Philip Pettit has read the complete draft and helped by his comments and his enthusiasm. My wife Aveen has made it possible for me to devote die necessary time to this project over the last five years. She bas provided all kinds of help, from encouragement to criticism of both style and content. Her suppon has been invaJuable. I am wateful to University College. Dublin. for leave of absence while alOxford. and to Nuffield College. Oxford. for electing me to a Research Fellowship during which I did the bulk of my research in high1y conducive circumstances. Deparrml!nt of EtiJics and Po/ilics JOHN M. MAGUIRE Un;"e,s;/~' College 'Dublin Inland August 1977 '1 _ ·.Tbis·isastudy.of bow 'Marxtreats' politics. It is set in the cOntext othis materialist theory of sodery aDd history, which has aroused is such interest and controversy, but not a study of that theory .s'$uch. This is not because Itbink.the jnterest misplac:ed, or the e9ntroversy fruitless. but .because I believe that an imponant contribution is to be made by looking thoroughly at how Marx operates in a specific area. Not only is politics tile specific area which interested him most; it is also the one where he was most keenly aware of not having -achieved a comprehensive and definitive viewpoiht. Marx has of course received much attention as a social and political thinker in the broad sense, in works from ,which I have derived much help. I, however, have concentrated onbis specific treatment of politics and, within that, on the 'positive rather than the normative aspects of his approach. As well as being a major pan of Marx's • unfinished business'. the area which I have chosen is crucial to Marxist thought. posing the question of how political structures, and political conflict, can be integrated in an economically based theory of society and history. It might be said that such a study cannot be conducted. for want of material and of indications of Marx's basic approach. As we shall see, there is no lack of material. As for his basic approach, I have found that it is possible to reconstruct the theory behind his empirical assenions at the various stages of. his career. There are obvious dangers. The material is by.no means of a uniform weight, being y,Titten in quite different circumstances for quite different reasons. A careful decision has to be made as to the emphasis to put on each work. Moreover, we must beware of foisting on Marx bits of 'theory' which he would rightly disown. On the other hand. he does cla.im to have interesting things to say about politics because of having a scientific theory of it. We are entitled, perhaps obliged, to probe the presuppositions, consist cn~y and v;didity of whalhcsays. I have not done tbis tn any Marx's Tlleory of Politi('.'; 2 negative spirit. although I have frequently been critical. My belief is that Marx's achievement can be best served by trying to subject it to the rigorous criteria by which he wished to succeed. Although no historian. I frequently discuss Marx's views in the light of what historians think of the topics in question. The most rewarding way to grapple with Marx's thought is to see him trying to make sense of the events of his time. and attempt to measure his successes and failures. I hope that there is not too much • amateur history' for the professional historian. While I have consulted everything he wrote. in my presentation I have con centrated on those areas where he is applying some (explicit or implicit) theory. I am sure that the political scientist will want to elaborate certain lines of interpretation beyond the point where I leave them: I hope that I have indicated the right direction. This holds also for the broader question of elaborating a distinctive and solid contemporary Marxist science of politics: I hope that that enterprise will benefit from a clear statement of the content and merits of Marx's own treatment. Chapter I explores some of the basic positions which Marx held in his early writings. These are informed by the unifying theme of all his treatment of politics: the correlation between capitalist industrialisation and bourgeois political power. Most of the time Marx claims quite straightforwardly in these writings that as their economic power increases. the bourgeoisie will gain increasing political sway. The chapter argues however that. although Marx ignored or was unaware of the fact. his theory even at this early stage contains intimations of the way in which. because of their conflicts with the lower orders. the bourgeoisie's political power can turn into a two-edged sword. Chapter 2 begins with a discussion of Marx's concept of the bourgeoisie as a class. and looks at what he thought of the first French revolution. This discussion does not attempt either . a Marxist account of the revolution' or to set out what Marx would have said had he written the work on the subject which. characteristically. remained but a project. It does however set what we can glean of his views on it against contemporary criti cisms of the • Marxist stereotype'. As well as arguing that on a number of points Marx would appear to escape their strictures. this discussion also. and chiefly. sets the scene for our investi- Introduction 3 gation of the topics on which he did write in detail. The rest of the chapter looks at his expectations for the coming revolutions in France and Germany. as set out in the Commllnist Ma"i/esto. We note that the particular alignment of forces which Marx expects - with the lower orders supporting the bourgeoisie until the latter's crucial battles are won - is but one out of a range of possibilities. others of which would prove disastrous for Marx's hopes. Chapters 3 and 4 show that in fact the disastrous alignments prevailed. The German bourgeoisie. keenly aware of the threat posed to it by the demands of peasants and artisans. relied on the support of the old state forces and thus made possible a restoration of the authoritarian monarchy. Where the German bourgeoisie failed to win power. the French bourgeoisie failed to keep it. In their conftict with the lower orders they were con strained so todepend on the President. Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte. that he was enabled to stage a successful coup. As well as expounding the broad lines of Marx's account. these two chapters explore the notions about revolutionary crisis and the process of its resolution which Marx is employing here. Chapter 5 examines a topic raised by the preceding two chap lers: how Marx explains the political actions of individuals and groups. From a careful analysis of his usage. it emerges that he does not claim that' all motivation is economic'. although he does lhink that in crises people will act so as to protect their economic rather than any other. confticting interests. It is shown that by . necessity' Marx understands not some overarching metaphysical predetermination. but rather the kind of cumulative pmcess whereby people. who could in principle have decided otherwise. involve themselves in irreversible consequences of the decisions which they do take. The chapter also documents the shift in Marx 's perspectives away from expecting that the bourgeoisie hold the key to the immediate future. to belief that the proletariat is the only class still capable of really revolutionary action. Chapter 6 begins by showing how Marx treats politics within the conception of the economic structure of capitalism in his mature economic works. It shows how the role of force in chang ing social structures is to be distinguished from the roles of power and ideology within social structure. and goes on to discuss Marx's approach to proletarian revolution. It discusses the kind ¥arx's Theory of Politics of necessity which Marx believes holds of this revolution. and looks at the main lines of his thought ,on revolutionary strategy. by contrast with the strategic views of Bakunin, Lassalleancl others whom he opposed. Chapter 7 deals with how Marx treated the politics of Britain. France and Germany in the decades after the 1848 revolutions. It discusses Marx's expectatidn that the bourgeoisie would.come to the helm politically as industry ,developed, and concludes thaI Marx's success in this claim. while not negligible. was far from total. It concludes by looking at how coherent a theory of the state Marx comes up with in his lalest pronouncements, and argues that while it is profound and provocative, it is far from consistent and comprehensive. Chapter 8 looks more directly at general theoretical issues than do the other chapters. It begins by briefty presenting the nature of Marx's materialism - both • methodological' and • sociological' - and the central contention of his materialist conception of his tory. This puts the preceding investigation in its broader contellt, and serves as an introduction to the discussion of Marx '5 general conception of the nature, emergence and abolition of politics. An account is given of Marx's attitude to early communal societies. and his depiction of their disintegration under the impact of private property. His views on the chances of survival of the Russian rural commune, and on the possibilit), that Russia can arrive at communism without an intervening capitalist stage, are discussed, and their significance for his general attitudes con sidered. The chapter goes on to discuss ho"',. Marx; conceives of the relation between politics and class society . .'\ point from chapter I is put in wider context here: there i!! in Marx, besides the relatively simple correlation between politics and class, the basis of a more complex view which situates class itself within a wider concept of the division of labour. This more complex account can better handle some of the cases which the simpler account has to regard as exceptions, although this is achieved by relaxing some of the stringency of the latter. Marx. 's distinction between government (to be found in all societies) and politics (the species of government peculiar to class societies) is discussed. While the distinction leaves some problems unsolved. it is a plausible ooc. Marx's belief that government in communist society will be non-' political is less naive than is often allowed, but here again then:.