> >So if Dems are so completely in the pockets of big business, how do folks
> >explain Daschle's repeated killing of the pro-rich "stimulus" bills and
the
> >continued non-passage of the bankruptcy law?
> >-- Nathan Newman
>the state has relative autonomy from the capitalist class. It does
>not ALWAYS function in their interests. On occassion the state will
function
>against the short term interest of capital to pacify the working class. The
>state must maintian the cohesion of capitalist system so that the process
of
>accumulation is not disrupted
I find agentless functionalism rather unconvincing in all its forms-- if the state is independent of capital, why is it trying to save it? There are well developed theories of the relative autonomy of the state-- in fact my old sociology advisor Peter Evans is one of the foremost proponents of such semi-Weberian arguements - but any useful theory recognizes that such relative autonomy develops out of the conflict and balance of power between capital and working class interests.
Smart capitalists may recognize that too much capitalist dominance of the state may be destructive but they also have to recognize that there is no way to fake autonomy-- either working class groups have real countervailing power or they don't.
And again, what parts of the capitalist class don't want the bankruptcy bill?
--- Nathan Newman