In his political thought, Stalin claimed to follow
Russian Marxist V.I. LENIN, working for the BOLSHEVIK
Party’s revolutionary overthrow of the czarist govern-
ment. Once in power, Stalin asserted that the Commu-
nist Party was not just the leader of the working class
but “the embodiment of unity of will,” or the absolute
political authority in the country (The Foundations of
Leninism). This modified Lenin’s more POPULIST“dem-
ocratic centralism” to create a dictatorial Communist
Party. As leader of that centralized party, Stalin
became an absolute dictator in Russia. He led purges
that tried and executed fellow communists who
opposed him.
Stalin developed a theory of “socialism in one
country” that claimed that the USSR could advance to
communist perfection even if the other countries of
the world remained CAPITALIST. This was contrary to
the common Marxist view that many nations must
have socialist revolutions for communism to exist in
any one of them.
Stalin tried to advance the Soviet economy by rapid
industrialization and forcible collectivization of agri-
culture (turning private farms into communes). Popu-
lar resistance (especially by peasants) to these
measures led to the Stalinist state’s murder of millions
of its own citizens.
During World War II, Stalin first made a peace pact
with Hitler’s NAZIGermany and then, when Germany
invaded Russia, with the Allies (Britain, United States).
After the Allied victory, Stalin’s Soviet troops retained
control of the conquered Eastern European countries
(Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Poland,
and East Germany). After Stalin’s death, the Soviet
government denounced his cruel and dictatorial rule.
state
The government system and structure of a given coun-
try or community. The formal, legal “state” in the
United States of America is the federal or national gov-
ernment, outlined in the U.S. CONSTITUTION, and the
regional and local governments, throughout the coun-
try. In a broader sense, a state is not just the formal
governing apparatus, but the distinct society, culture,
and economy of a given region and community that
exists under a single governmental authority. So the
“Russian state” or the “British state” includes more
than the ruling institutions (Parliament, courts, etc.);
it encompassed customs, historical traditions, the reli-
gion of the people, education, culture, economics, arts,
and so on.
When most CLASSICALthinkers discussed the state,
they meant both the nonpolitical characteristics and
the governing structures of a region. Theories of the
state both described existing states and ideal
political/social systems. So, PLATO’s Republicdescribes
an ideal society and government that partly reflects the
Ancient Greek state of Athens. ARISTOTLEdescribed 150
state constitutions of his time, including the Greek
POLIS. CICEROdescribes the state in terms of the Roman
REPUBLICand Roman Empire. CHRISTIANpolitical theory
(St. AUGUSTINE, St. Thomas AQUINAS) views all worldly
states in relation to God’s kingdom (The City of God,
or divine law), as does ISLAMICpolitical thought. MOD-
ERNtheory (MACHIAVELLI, Thomas HOBBES) tends to see
the state purely in terms of POWER. Liberalism (John
LOCKE, John Stuart MILL) emphasizes the limited quality
of the state and its responsibility to preserve individual
NATURAL RIGHTS(to “Life, LIBERTY, and PROPERTY”). MARX-
IST COMMUNISTtheory reduces the state to an instru-
ment of economic class rule (by the owners of
property). ANARCHISMand LIBERTARIANthought deny the
LEGITIMACYof the state altogether, seeing the govern-
ment as the source of all oppression and wanting to
abolish it as quickly as possible. COMMUNITARIANtheory
(Jean-Jacques ROUSSEAU, Benjamin BARBER) sees politics
and the state as everything and the proper controller of
all aspects of human life (economics, religion, family).
Discussions of the state in political thought invari-
ably lead to issues of legitimacy (what makes a state
just and legal), SOVEREIGNTY(how far does the author-
ity of the state extend), LAW (the formal rules in a
state), and HIERARCHY(the relationship of the govern-
ment to the governed). In a sense, study of the state is
the whole subject of POLITICAL THEORY. With the rise of
TOTALITARIAN states (Soviet Communism, FASCISM) in
the 20th century, concern for defining the proper role
and limits of the state increased. With the globaliza-
tion of the world’s economy in the 21st century (the
internet, world trade agreements, the European Com-
munity, etc.), the nation-state’s power is being dimin-
ished when compared to this one-world system.Further Readings
Bosanquet, B. The Philosophical Theory of the State 1899.New
York: Macmillan, 1958.
Dyson, K. The State Tradition in Western Europe.New York:
Oxford University Press, 1980.
Poggi, G. The Development of the Modern State.Stanford, Calif.:
Stanford University Press, 1978.284 state