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The role of democracy in Marxist thinking may refer to the role of democratic processes in the transition from capitalism to socialism, or to the importance ascribed to participatory democracy in a post-capitalist society. Karl Marx believed that "democracy is the road to socialism", (although this line is not directly stated in his works), ''democracy'' being Greek for "rule by the people". Marx believed 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. After the workers, i.e., the proletariat, achieve political power and use the state to transform bourgeoise society into a classless, communist society, the state would lose its reason for existence, which is the suppression of the one class by another, and would no longer be needed. But how long after the revolution will the state continue to exist? In his 1891 introduction to The Civil War in France, Friedrich Engels wrote: In other words, most of the oppressive institutions of the state, such as armed organizations to control the public, will be abolished "as much as possible" immediately after victory over the bourgeoisie, but administrative functions might continue until a generation raised under communism was able to cooperate without any hierarchical administration whatsoever. While Marxists propose using the state to carry out the revolution, and then abolishing it, anarchists reverse the process, abolishing the state and then carrying out the revolution. 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: Moreover, even if representatives of the proletariat class are elected in a capitalist country, Leninists claim they have limited power over the country's affairs as the economic sphere is largely controlled by private capital and therefore the representative's power to act is curtailed. Hence, Marxists-Leninists see a socialist revolution necessary to bring power into hands of oppressed classes. ==The dictatorship of the proletariat== While Marxism does not dismiss democracy, it views it along class lines. The democracy that Marxists aim to achieve is a workers' democracy also known as the dictatorship of the proletariat. This would consist of political power being held by the working class (the majority demographic of society) and state power wielded in their interests. Marxists also hold that a workers' democracy (the dictatorship of the proletariat) is only a temporary and transitional form necessary prior to the establishment of a communist society. Under a truly communist society, the class of proletariat would disappear, along with the state, to form a classless and stateless society. In his "Critique of the Gotha Program" Marx wrote that, in Germany at least, a revolutionary dictatorship would be necessary: "Between capitalist and communist society there lies the period of the revolutionary transformation of the one into the other. Corresponding to this is also a political transition period in which the state can be nothing but the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat." His critique was written in opposition to the moderate, democratic approach of the Gotha Program of the merged Social Democratic Party of Germany/Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany, which states, "...the Socialist Labor Party of Germany endeavors by every lawful means to bring about a free state and a socialistic society."〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=The Gotha and Erfurt Programs )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Democracy in Marxism」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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