MARXIAN APPROACH TO POLITICAL ANALYSIS

The Marxian approach to political analysis is fundamentally different from the

liberal political analysis – both ‘traditional’ or ‘modern’. Karl Marx approaches the

question of politics from the point of view of social change which is dialectical and

historical. The theory of dialectical materialism and its application in history i.e., historical

materialism are the two important tools in Marxian methodology. In this respect, it should

be remembered that Marxist approach means taking note of not only of the writings of

Marx and Engels but also those of Lenin, Mao and others.

Marx says that society does not consist of individuals but represents the sum total of

interrelations within these individuals exist. To him all societies in history have been class

societies. The contending classes from free man and slave, patrician and plebian, lord and

serf, guild master and journeyman to bourgeoisie and proletariat in the epoch of capitalism.

All class societies are characterized by domination and conflict which are based on specific

concrete features of their mode of production. Class domination has been a historical

process signifying a constant attempt on the part of the dominant classes to maintain and

extend their domination of the society.

The important feature of Marxian approach is that here State being the central theme

of politics is conceived as an inevitable consequence of class contradictions. Thus State is

an instrument of exploitation and oppression by one class by another. Marxists argue that

the class character of the state cannot come to an end until the emergence of the classless

society where there is no state.. Thus the Marxian perspective of politics can be understood

only with reference to the nature of prevailing societal conflict and domination. Here

politics becomes integrally connected with the basic economic structure finding its

manifestation in the forces and relations of production. In the real world economic and

political forces and factors are constantly interacting. According to Marx politics,

economics, culture and ideology are all inseparably intertwined. It is hard to disentangle

one from the other. The ‘forces of production’ at the particular stage of historical

development are matched by definite ‘relations of production’ that characterize the society.

The relations of production taken together constitute the economic foundation (base) of the

society. The legal and political institutions (super structure) stand on this economic