Abstract
One of the most well known definitions of state was written by Max Weber. He defines a state as a body having a ‘monopoly on the legitimate use of violence' in a given territory . In a certain way, Marx definition of the state is close to Weber definition . Both of the authors define the state as the one who has the monopole of the legitimate use of violence.
According to Marx, one of the first characteristics of the state is a coercive apparatus . That's the only point of agreement of the two authors as Mars has other characteristics to define the state. The second characteristic of the state that Marx sees is a class dimension . The state is ‘the organised power of one class for oppressing another '. Hence Carnoy says that ‘it is the notion of the state as a repressive apparatus of the bourgeoisie that is the distinctly Marxist characteristic of the state' . This characteristic is about what state is for. Indeed, the state is for enforce and secure the position of the dominant class (meaning the capitalist class) against the threat of the proletarian class. The third characteristic tell us how the state came to be an instrument in the hands of bourgeoisie and managing the common affairs of that class rather than the acting for the public and common good .
The state is seen as a tool to secure the dominant position of the capitalist class . According to Marx and Engels, “each step in the development of the bourgeoisie was accompanied by a corresponding political advance of that class… The bourgeoisie has at last, since the establishment of Modern Industry and of the world market, conquered for itself, in the modern representative State, exclusive political sway. The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie. ” In those terms, the Communist Manifesto appears to make a simple claim: the state power has been taken over by the capitalist class and it is used to defend the interest of that class .
