The Dialectical ‘Moment’ of Marx’s Theory of Democracy: From the Theory of the Rational State to ‘True Democracy’

Abstract

This chapter deals with Marx’s Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right as a theoretical attempt to deconstruct the Hegelian theory and to contribute to a democratic theory of the state. Stressing the influence of Feuerbach’s and Ruge’s writings on Marx’s political theory, and taking special notice of the fact that Marx passionately studied the works of Machiavelli, Montesquieu and Rousseau during this period, I analyse Marx as the radical thinker who grounded his theory of politics on the historical datum that the ‘political states’ of his time served and protected the material interests of the rich. Furthermore, pointing to the dissolution of the political state, I argue that the pre-communist Marxian theory of democracy reached its dialectical ‘moment’ in terms of a ‘true democracy’ as a philosophical and political prelude to communism.