Contending Conceptualizations of the State 143each other within a pluralistic framework. A state’s national interests change over
time, reflecting the interests and relative power positions of competing groups inside
and sometimes also outside the state.
With re spect to natu ral resources, liberals believe that multiple national interests
influence state actions: consumer groups desire oil at the lowest price pos si ble; manu-
facturers, who depend on bulk supplies to run their factories, value a stable supply of
oil, other wise they risk losing their jobs; producers of oil, including domestic produc-
ers, want high prices, to make profits and have incentives to reinvest in drilling. The
state itself reflects no consistent viewpoint about the oil; its task is to ensure that the
“playing field is level” and that the procedural rules are the same for the vari ous
players in the market. The substantive outcome of the game— which group’s interests
predominate— changes depending on circumstances and is of little import to the
state. There is no single or consistent national interest: at times, it is low consumer
prices; at other times, stability of prices; and at still other times, high prices to stimu-
late domestic production. For liberals, the state provides the arena for groups, each
with dif er ent self-interests, to find a common interest.
the radical view of the state
Radicals ofer two alternative views of the state, each emphasizing the role of capital-
ism and the cap i tal ist class in the state’s formation and functioning. The instrumental
Marxist view sees the state as the executing agent of the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie
reacts to direct societal pressures, especially to pressures from the cap i tal ist class. The
structural Marxist view sees the state as operating within the structure of the cap i tal-
ist system. Within that system, the state is driven to expand, not because of the direct
pressure of the cap i tal ists but because of the imperatives of the cap i tal ist system. In nei-
ther view is there a national interest: state be hav ior reflects economic goals. In neither
The LiberaL View of The STaTeThe state is:
■ a pro cess, involving contending
interests
■ a reflection of both governmental
and societal interests■ he repository of multiple and t
changing national interests
■ the possessor of fungible sources
of powerin foCuS