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Outline how the Anarchist view of the State differs from the Marxist view of the state.

For anarchists human nature is malleable and adjusts according to the social environment of each human. The anarchist tradition can be broadly split up into collectivist and individualist. Uniting both traditions is the view typified in Ghandi's view that the state is : “a concentrated body of evil”. Furthermore anarchists have an extremely pessimistic view of human nature's attitude to power, therefore: “all power corrupts”and not just “absolute” as Acton’s liberal maxim asserted. From this anarchists conclude that any form of state damages and corrupts both those who are subject to authority and those who are in authority.

Whilst Marxists share the desire for a stateless future society with Anarchists their view on the capability of the state to guarantee a future stateless society differs. Marx believed that a successful transition to stateless communism will require the repression of capitalists who would otherwise re-establish their own control, and therefore the existence of state run by the workers until class antagonisms abate. Bakunin thought given the power advocated by Marx and his followers any man would soon become “worse than the Czar”. Anarchists believe that the once members of the state the “workers” will soon acquire an appetite for prestige, control and eventually domination, a complete contrast to Marx's view that the state will “wither away” This illustrates both that, for the Anarchist, all power is ‘corrupting’ and that human nature is malleable. Therefore the state must be completely abolished immediately after a revolution to achieve a stateless society.

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This essay is aimed at people studying for A Level Politics, but will be suitable for other people too.

Originally submitted by lesususu on TSR Forums.