On 2013-11-14, at 5:36 PM, Bill Bartlett wrote:
> The modern democratic political state is clearly not subject to direct control by the capitalist class, its electorate being composed overwhelmingly of the working class. What's more, the capitalist class plainly prefer it that way, prefer a political state which is not under their direct control. At every turn of history they have pushed in that direction.
That has depended on the level of class conflict. At every turn of history, when necessary, the capitalist class has pushed for and obtained the intervention of the state to repress working class unrest, often violently. Of course, the bourgeoisie prefers to rely on ideological hegemony, on consent rather than coercion, because it is a much less disruptive and more secure form of rule and conforms to its historic democratic ideals.
Where the masses have a favourable view of private ownership, or at least the perception that it is the most natural and effective system to improve their living conditions while allowing them a certain degree of personal freedom, capitalist hegemony is assured. It's not necessary that the political leadership be selected "directly" from within the business community, though that is often the case. It is sufficient that the political leaders have close ties to the corporate sector, depend on it for funding, respond to its lobbyists, and equate its welfare with the welfare of the nation. Those who are outside this consensus do not get elected to high office.
The state is not neutral, much less under the control of its working class electorate, as you suggest above. While it has consistently addressed the needs of the large corporations, it has never once served as an instrument for the transfer of power and property from capital to labour, which was the original intention of working class parties of all stripes. In fact, under the pressure of the system, the parties which issued from the trade union movements have evolved into co-administrators of the capitalist state and are today barely distinguishable from the traditional parties of business on their right.