Orthodox Marxian Position on Distribution of Power

To explain the distribution of power, Marxian distinction of base and superstructure should be understood. Marx divides the whole society into two categories. One relates to economic activity and production, private property, machinery, equipments, technology and techniques of production, labour force, etc. and another, to the rest of other activities such as politics, culture, law, etc. While the first category refers to Base or Infrastructure, the second is called Superstructure. Economic activity is considered as base because this is the primary activity—each human being engages to survive. Other aspects of life become reflection of the base activity. While economic activity is base, others, such as politics, legal aspects, cultural and religious aspects, intellectual and ideological aspects, etc., become superstructure. Andrew Vincent remarks that the ‘Marxian theory tends towards political economy’⁷¹ proves the singular importance given to economic power by Marx. The implication of the base-superstructure dichotomy is that there is only one source of power and that is economic power. Power in all other aspects of life is manifestation of economic power.

To the Marxian view, economic power is concentrated in a single class, the capitalist class. Since economic power determines the dynamics of power in other aspects of society—political, legal, intellectual and ideological,—the capitalist class holds overall power in the society. This unequal concentration of power is the reason of dominance of the capitalist class as the ruling class. Economic power determines political power. Politics and economics are allies and those who have economic power are also the wielder of political power. Alan R. Ball, explaining the relation between economic power and political power, suggests that ‘political power is concentrated in the hands of a ruling class as a consequence of concentration of economic power in the hands of a few’.⁷² The owners of the means of production are also the politically dominant class.

The dichotomous relationship of power between the ruling class (bourgeoisie) and the dependent class (proletariat) is, in fact, a relationship of exploitation, oppression and coercion of the latter by the former. This relationship Marx terms as class struggle. It is a relationship of exploitation of one class by another. Class struggle is struggle of the workers against the owners of the means of production, in short, struggle of the powerless against the powerful. Marx, however, accepts the link between class struggle and political struggle. He suggests that to fight against inequality of economic power, workers would need to use political struggle to organize. In the Manifesto of the Communist Party, Marx declares that ‘every class struggle is a political struggle’.⁷³ We can interpret this statement of Marx in two ways. Firstly, since political activity is determined by economic activity, any struggle that goes on in the economic realm will have to be fought in the political realm as well. Secondly, class struggle needs, what Marx says, ‘ever expanding union of the workers’ and ultimately a political party.⁷⁴ This would be necessary to organize workers as a class in the class struggle. Political struggle must go along with class struggle. The final objective of class struggle of the workers is to overthrow the capitalist system and establish socialist ownership of the means of production. This is to be achieved by means of a violent and forceful revolution that is needed to overthrow the capitalist system, take over the capitalist state, which is the repository of political power. The descriptions and discussions on Marxian views on distribution of power suggest the following:

• Source of all powers is economic power, which emanates from ownership of means of production.
• In a capitalist society where private property and capitalist means of production prevail, economic power is concentrated in the hands of the capitalists.
• Concentration of power in their hands means absence of the same for others.
• Concentration of economic power in the hands of a single class and all power flowing from the same single source, means that the economically dominant class is the ruling class.
• Ruling class use their overwhelming power for economic exploitation, oppression and coercion of the subject class.
• Power used in such a manner is illegitimate and coercive—illegitimate because it is used against the interests of the workers and coercive because it is exploitative.
• However, power used in such a manner by the ruling class, is still accepted as legitimate and rightful. This is due to ‘false consciousness’ in the workers, which mystifies the fact of coercion, exploitation and subjection by the ruling class.
• In the Marxian view, power is always used as class power. In a capitalist society, it is power of the capitalist class, which is in minority; during revolution, violent force is used by the workers against the capitalist; and after establishment of the socialist state, power shifts in the hands of the proletariat, which is in majority. Nevertheless, at all three stages of transition, the Marxian view treats power as class power, which is used by the one class against the other. In a capitalist society, economic and political power is with the minority, in a socialist society economic and political power is combined in the state and under the leadership of the communist party.