Strengths And Weaknesses Of State Societal Relations

909 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The relation between state and society

The four theories of state-societal relation (stated above) all have their strengths and weaknesses. However, the most convincing of all four is, in my opinion, Elitism. This is because Elitism offers the most persuasive arguments in which it appears to be the utmost representative of current state-societal relations. This is not to say that other theories (such as Marxism) do not have their merits, because they do. Nonetheless, in my perspective the general ideas portrayed within Elitism hold more credibility than Pluralism, Marxism, and Market Liberalism.
Although Pluralism can be split into normative and explanatory, authors generally tend to mesh the two together. Therefore the broad definition of Pluralism focuses upon a few key features …show more content…

In short, Marxism tends to focus on two key concepts. The first views the State an ‘instrument’ in the hands of Capitalists and as a result served to benefit the richest in our society. The second view believes that the State serves to protect the interests of the Capitalist class but requires autonomy to do so as it may have act against some of their interests. Subsequently, it is apparent that because Marx never finished his book on State relations with the economy, Marxism’s view of state-societal relations is heavily fragmented. As a result, it very difficult to be convinced by the Marxist perception as on this particular topic due to its lack of depth. Therefore, Elitism, which also views the State as an instrument in the hands of the elite provides a more convincing take on state-societal relations. This is further emphasised as most Elitists believe that the elites within society are both heavily entrenched within the political system and have significant influence via their ability to persuade the public (e.g. the Scottish referendum). Additionally, Marxists tend to believe that Capitalism will fall as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. However, this has not been entirely the case as the rich have undoubtedly got richer with the wealthiest one percent now owning more than the rest of the world combined

Show More
Related

  • The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx

    872 Words  | 2 Pages

    Marx’s ideals of communism were drawn from the realization that the cycle of revolutions caused by the class struggles throughout history lead society nowhere. Society as a whole was more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes that were directly facing each other—bourgeoisie and proletariat. According to Marx, in order for society to further itself a mass proletarian revolution would have to occur. The bourgeois, who were the employers and owners of the means of production, composed the majority of the modern capitalists. It was these individuals that controlled the capitalist society by exploiting the labor provided by the proletariats. For example, the bourgeoisie make property into a right because they are the ones with the property. However, without their power force of labor behind them, the bourgeoisie class would crumple. To accomplish a revolution, the workers (proletariats) would need to rise up against the bourgeoisie and take back the factors of production. Marx believed that after the inevitable revolution of the proletariats against the oppressive force of the bourgeoisie, a communistic form of government would take hold.

    Read More

  • Ideal vs. Reality: Religious Pluralism vs. Religious Tolerance

    1288 Words  | 3 Pages

    Eck, Diana L. “From Diversity to Pluralism” The Pluralism Project at Harvard University. Harvard University, 2011. Web. 10 Oct. 2011.

    Read More

  • Marx versus Reich

    1259 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...o conclude with, the worst fate is waiting for rich people in Marx’s “Communist manifesto”, and is explained by 2 factors: mismanagement of given resources and negative result in the class struggle between the poor and the rich. Reich, on the contrary, argues that the wealthiest people, these are the symbolic analysts, will thrive due to the higher demand for their services and better technologies. Both authors see the capital factor in different lights and predict the rich to either succeed with the help of it, or lose because of its mismanagement. Meanwhile Reich does not mention any tension among different classes Marx sees the doom of the rich in its defeat to proletariat. Nevertheless, considering that Reich describes modern times and having witnessed the fall of USSR, a model of Marxist regime, should we incline more to Reich’s predictions on the rich’s fate?

    Read More

  • The Decline of Aristocracy in The Communist Manifesto

    968 Words  | 2 Pages

    The decline of aristocracy in The Communist Manifesto began with Karl Marx’s statement, “The history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggles.”1 Marx recognized the ideals of the social rank, which has influenced every society throughout history. The two social classes described by Marx were the Bourgeoisie, or the upper class, and the Proletariats, or the lower class. Before the Bourgeoisie came to social power, landowners and corporate organizations ran the society. Marx believed that the severe separation of the two classes greatly troubled society and that the two classes must coexist as one with each other.2

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Karl Marx's Writing Of The Communist Manifesto

    2472 Words  | 5 Pages

    Most importantly for those who Marx feels capitalism has an adverse effect on, the proletariat. Marx in The Communist Manifesto explains what capitalism is and what it is to be a capitalist: "To be a capitalist is to have not only a purely personal but a social status in production. Capital is a collective product, and only by the united action of many members, nay, in the last resort, only by the united action of all members of society, can it be set in motion." (Marx, K., Engels, F. and Berman, M. (2011)). Through such a definition of capitalism, he adamantly stresses that capitalist state is selfish, one that has been manufactured by the desire of individuals to have a greater material wealth than his societal

    Read More

  • The Functionalist Views Of Social Stratification Of Society

    1066 Words  | 3 Pages

    Marx disagree with the functionalist view that people in power are not there because of superior traits; but more of an ideology that the elite use to justify their being at the top and seduce the oppressed into believing that their welfare depends on keeping quiet and following authorities. (2012:230) Marx saw four possible ways to distribute wealth: each person’s needs, what each person wants, what each person earns, and what each person can take. From Marx view there were two economically based social classes: the bourgeoisie are the capitalist class and the proletariats are the working class. The bourgeoisie are the haves, they control the means of production, norms and values of society. They use their social control to maintain their control in society and use their power to make distribution of resources seem fair. The proletariats will remain exploited if they do not develop a class consciousness. If the proletariats are to develop a class consciousness they will be able to overthrow the bourgeoisie. People who has more power will have more resources comparing to people who has no power will have less resources. The elite class has more power and money which allow them to have any resource they need or want like education, job, food, etc… The lower class will not have the same resources like the elite class, some drop out of high school to work to provide for their food, housing, and clothing for their

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Communist Manifesto

    804 Words  | 2 Pages

    This infamous final stage of political evolution is the abolition of classes and antagonism between the classes. With abolishing antagonism, it also would abolish oppression between the classes. Along with overpowering the bourgeoisie, measures of rules that are generally applicable for most advanced countries would be established. Rules such as, “Expropriation of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes and a heavy progressive tax,” (Karl Marx), which these rules are not solely just these two. Once countries have established these rules, through the process of it, if classes lose its distinctions, and all production has been assigned solely to an associated individual, the public would lose its political power, the political power that lets a class oppress the

    Read More

  • Marxist Theory and Class Relations in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

    870 Words  | 2 Pages

    Marxism is a method of analysis based around the concepts developed by the two German philosophers Karl Marx and Fredrich Engel, centered around the complexities of social-relations and a class-based society. Together, they collaborated their theories to produce such works as The German Ideology (1846) and The Communist Manifesto (1848), and developed the terms ‘’proletariat’ and ’bourgeois’ to describe the working-class and the wealthy, segmenting the difference between their respective social classes. As a result of the apparent differences, Marxism states that proletariats and bourgeoisie are in constant class struggle, working against each other to amount in a gain for themselves.

    Read More

  • Disagreements On Marxism And Karl Marx's Views On Capitalism

    1337 Words  | 3 Pages

    Karl Marx lived from 1818-1883 and was alive during the Industrial Revolution which was a time that moved Europeans to cities from rural farming.. Marx observed the economy he lived in and saw the huge flaws with capitalism. Poverty, class conflicts and private property were all flaws of capitalism that Marx thought we could avoid if historical change took place. Capitalism according to Marx is an extremely unsatisfactory government system that gives power to the upper class landowners and keeps the proletariat exploited. The proletariat in a Capitalist society are continually exploited for their labor and don’t receive any of the profits for the item they produced for their firm. Shareholders of the firm end up being the ones who reap the rewards from the company even though they have nothing to do with manufacturing the good expect investing money. Marx insists that society would be better off if working class individuals controlled and owned all of the capital in the economy. In a capitalist society the bourgeoisie make huge amounts of money off the proletariat which is something that can’t last forever. Marx argued that as time passes increasing tensions between classes will surface and end capitalism altogether. Essentially, the lower class will revolt and force the government to abolish the capitalist system by putting in place socialism. Socialism doesn’t support alienated labor or employees as commodities for sale. Alienation of labor occurs in a capitalist society according to Ma...

    Read More

  • Marx's Theories

    1564 Words  | 4 Pages

    While Marxist ideology dismisses the individual’s role in society and contends that the economic superstructure governs everything, Weber and Simmel each present a more nuanced interpretation of the social world. The work of these two theorists acknowledges individual agency and examines forces outside of the economy that impact individuals. In the following paper, I discuss how the social forces described by Weber and Simmel complicate Marx’s conception of the class structure. Moreover, I contend that the theories of Weber and Simmel illustrate how distinctions and divisions can arise within Marx’s broadly defined social classes. Ultimately, these divides within the proletariat impede the development of class consciousness and prevent the overthrow of capitalism.

    Read More

  • Karl Marx On Alienation: An Analysis Of Karl Marx On Alienation

    1098 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the video Karl Marx on Alienation Karl Marx has a very strong opposition to capitalism, “an economic system in which owners of private property compete in the marketplace in pursuit of profit” (Witt, 2016, p. 202). He believed that life chances, “the likelihood that our success is shaped by our access to valued material, social, and cultural resources” (Witt, 2016, p. 222) alienated these workers from the products of their labor. Because these labors were born without access to success they were forced to work long hours for a small profit that was often not even enough to afford them the fruits of their labor. From this alienation we start to see Marx’s idea of an elite model, “a view of society as being ruled by a small group of individuals

    Read More

  • Pluralism

    1378 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pluralism comes from the political system that focuses on shared power among interest groups and competing factions.# A pluralistic society contains groups that have varying interests and backgrounds, including those of ethnic, religious, and political nature.# Differences like these are to be encouraged, with overall political and economic power being maintained. When a number of people, all sharing a common interest are threatened, a group is involuntarily formed in order to defend against competing interests.

    Read More

  • Social Stratification In The Class

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    This is very important when talking about the means of production, which the bourgeoisie own. The proletarians, or lower have to work for the bourgeoisie which causes a lot of social stratification. So because of globalization the bourgeoisie have to recreated and change the means of production, and if they do not they will lose everything and then becomes proletarians and have to work for the new bourgeoisie. Also as the bourgeoisie change the means of production, they change social norms and functions. How can this be without them revolutionizing the system? It cannot be. All of the points that Levine or Gilbert has made on Marx’s ideas are all on point. In society today there are different classes, they might be built upon more than economics, but wealth and money dictate a lot about someone’s place. Marx’s initial ideas are now expanded upon, but the basic ideas of Marx are what all sociologist study social stratification must understand. Marx is correct in his statement because society has changed so much since the Stone Age and Middle Age. We have laptops, cell phones, and really advanced gadgets. Not every country has the same technology as the United States does, and they still survive. This clearly shows how important changing

    Read More

  • Karl Marx And The Communist Manifesto

    1347 Words  | 3 Pages

    Born from the revolutions of 1848 throughout Europe, Marxism sought to end the class struggles that were destroying the continent. The solution to the problems of all nations occurred to Marx to be Socialism, a branch that is presently known as Marxism. Under this seemingly “utopian” socioeconomic system, equality was granted to all citizens who were in essence a community of one. “. . . universal free education; arming of the people; a progressive income tax; limitations upon inheritance; state ownership of banks. . .”(Palmer 506). These rights of which constituted Marxism eventually went on to be incorporated in Leninism and modern-day socialism. At least in its beginning, the intent of Marxism and the Communist League were noble towards the goal o...

    Read More

  • A Critical Analysis Of Karl Marx's Theory Of Capitalism

    1784 Words  | 4 Pages

    Karl Marx sought to understand how our capitalist society works, by concentrating on the social and economic relations in which people earn their living. Marx established that the capitalist system forces people into two classes; the bourgeoisie (the upper- class capitalists who own the means of production), and the proletariat (the working class). Marx’s analysis, otherwise known as “Marxism” is focused on developing the relations between these two classes. According to his theory, Marx believed that the law does not treat the two classes equally, supports the unequal treatment, and ignores the substantive inequalities between both. Marx is not concerned with the ideas of individual workers, but about their position in society. He sought to explain how the law operates as a means of repression, while promoting the interests of certain classes, most likely the bourgeoisie, at the expense of the rest of society, the proletariat.

    Read More

More about Strengths And Weaknesses Of State Societal Relations

Open Document