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Pluralist and Marxist theories main desagreement concerns the way power is measured:
According to Marx : “ Every form of society have been based on the antagonism of oppressing and oppressed classes”.
Marx reject the basis of the traditional liberal thought which sees the individual as acting alone or with a groups to pursue his personal interest. According to him it is impossible to discuss any individuals without taking into account their relationship to the mode of production. Hence, Individualist psycology and politics are rejected by Marxs, and according to him, the economic and political power belong to the same actor, the dominant class.
Marxs explanation of the relationship of politics to economics is to be found in his preface of the Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy :
“ Legal relations as well as form of state have their roots in the material condition of life. The mode of production of material life condition the social, political and intellectual life process in general.“
Marxs also see society as competitive. But according to him,
Since the economic structure is the basis of the political structure of society, the idea that the State is neutral is completly rejected. On the contrary, Marx see the State as an instrument of the dominant class.
In Engels’s formulation: “ The State in all typical periods is exclusively the state of the ruling class, and in all cases remains enssentially a machine for keeping down the opressed, exploited class.”
The Marxist approach of the State argues that the State will remain an instrument of oppression until the proletarian revolution eliminates all class dinstiction by eliminating capitalism. He sees the state as vital to capitalism, since it provides companies with legal frameworks.
The aboliton of private ownership and the elimination of class dinstinction can lead to a a self regulated society.
Which, as Engels said, “ Will organise production on the basis of a free and equal association of the producers”, and “ put the whole machinery of State where it will then belong : to the Museum of Antiquities”.
The ruling class (capitalist) who owns the means of production
opressing
and the ruled (Workers) who owns nothing but their labour force
opressed
Power is determined by one's standing in relationship to the means of production.
Power is widely dispersed within society.
Political and economical powers are separated.
The dominant class hold the whole economic and polical power:
-they own the means of production
-the state serves their interests only
Group of interests
The two major classes
The state is neutral and acts as a mediator between interest groups competing for power in society.
Differents interests groups such as :
The state is not neutral.
It acts as an instrument of oppression serving the intersts of the dominant class to control the exploited class.
Competition in society is determied by the struggle between the two major classes.
No group is always supreme and win all the time, which creates a "balance of power".
Only revolution (and thus communism) can bring equality between the two major classes.
Big companies support lobby groups to defend their interests.
For example, sponsors more than a thousand lobby companies.
In the Uk the lobbying agencies are mostly conected to the conservative parties.
However, big companies interests are not always compatible with the common good. In some cases, lobby group are even pay to manipulate public opinion against their own good:
As an example, Philip Morris, the largest tobacco firm in the world, had devied a strategy for dealing with the passive smoking report , so they will portray the danger of tobacco smoke as just one unfounded fear among others.
Hence, the most powerful groups in society are not always acting for the good of society.
Economic and political power are independent from each other and both widely dispersed within society.
Individuals with similar interests may form into groups. According to liberal-pluralist theories, those groups are the main actors in the the political process.
They compete with each other for power in society by putting pressure on the State in order to influence the decision making process in their favour.
Hence, public policy emerges from competion among groups.
However, because they have a variety of different interests (religious, economic, professional, ethnic, or cultural among others) they tend to associate themselves with numerous groups whose interests overlap.
The State is neutral. Which means that it does not favour any group uppon another, nor serve its own interests. Instead, it is expected to act as a mediator between different groups in their struggle for power in society.
Coalition of like minded people
Unions:
Labor groups promote policies that benefit workers
grassroots activism may hold marches and rallies to brig attention to their cause.
It is argued that class consciousness, whether upper or lower class, is not relevant anymore since individuals may belong to different social groups (such as a Church, an economic institution, associations, activity group and so on and so forth). These social groups may influence individuals's indentities more than their economic class, like religion or ethnicity, and shape their interests according to their precepts.
Business lobbyist:
Concentrate in issues of business interests.
Professional associations:
Lobbyist that promote the interest of their members.
1 - Introduction of the Pluralist approach of the State
2 - Introduction of the marxist approach of the state
3- Comparision between the two approaches
4- Criticism of both approaches
5 - Conclusion - Which approach is more compelling ?