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Democracy in Marxism


The role of democracy in Marxist thinking may refer to the role of democratic processes in the transition from capitalism to communism or capitalism to Marxist socialism. It can also refer to the importance ascribed to participatory democracy in a post-capitalist society.

Karl Marx is often cited as saying "democracy is the road to socialism", but this line is not directly stated in any of his works. Marx did however express belief that the working class could achieve power through democratic elections, but that working people had the right to revolt if they were denied political expression. In Principles of Communism, in response to the question "Will the peaceful abolition of private property be possible?", Friedrich Engels wrote:

It would be desirable if this could happen, and the communists would certainly be the last to oppose it. Communists know only too well that all conspiracies are not only useless, but even harmful. They know all too well that revolutions are not made intentionally and arbitrarily, but that, everywhere and always, they have been the necessary consequence of conditions which were wholly independent of the will and direction of individual parties and entire classes. But they also see that the development of the proletariat in nearly all civilized countries has been violently suppressed, and that in this way the opponents of communism have been working toward a revolution with all their strength. If the oppressed proletariat is finally driven to revolution, then we communists will defend the interests of the proletarians with deeds as we now defend them with words.

While Marxists propose using the state to carry out the revolution, and then abolishing it, anarchists warn that the state must be abolished along with capitalism. The desired end results, a stateless, communal society, are the same, however.

Leninists believe democracy under capitalism is an unrealistic utopia. This is because they believe that, in a capitalist state, all "independent" media and most political parties are controlled by capitalists and one either needs large financial resources or to be supported by the bourgeoisie to win an election. Vladimir Lenin (1917) believed that, in a capitalist state, the system focuses on resolving disputes within the ruling bourgeoisie class and ignores the interests of the proletariat or labour class which are not represented and therefore dependent on the bourgeoisie's good will:


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