Critical Theories of the State Clyde W. Barrow Critical Theories of the State Marxist, Neo-Marxist, Post-Marxist The University of Wisconsin Press The University ofWisconsin Press 2537 Daniels Street Madison, Wisconsin 53718 3 Henrietta Street London WC2E 8LU, England Copyright © 1993 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System All rights reserved 7 6 5 4 3 Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Barrow, Clyde W. Critical theories of the state: Marxist, Neo-Marxist, Post-Marxist / Clyde W. Barrow. 220 p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-299-13710-4 ISBN 0-299-13714-7 1. State, The. 2. Socialism. 3. Communist state. 4. Radicalism. 5. Welfare state. 6. Political development. I. Title. JC251.B32 1993 320.1-dc20 92-34761 To my wife, Trini Thanks! Contents Figures / ix Tables / xi Acknowledgments / xiii List of Abbreviations / xv Introduction / 3 ONE Plain Marxism: The Instrumentalist Approach / 13 TWO Neo-Marxism: The Structuralist Approach / 51 THREE Between Neo-Marxism and Post-Marxism: The Derivationist Approach / 77 FOUR Post-Marxism I: The Systems-Analytic Approach / 96 FIVE Post-Marxism II: The Organizational Realist Approach / 125 SIX The Antinomies of Marxist Political Theory / 146 Notes / 161 Sources Consulted / 197 Index / 215 VB Figures Figure 1.1 Interlocking directorates among the core financial institutions in the Rockefeller Group / 20 Figure 1.2 A financial groups model of the capitalist class / 21 Figure 1.3 Policy-planning structure of the Business Roundtable / 36 Figure 1.4 The policy planning network / 37 Figure 4.1 Systems-analytic model of late capitalism / 100 Figure 6.1 Theories of the state arranged on a state-capital axis / 147 Figure 6.2 Theories of the state arranged on a methodological axis / 150 Figure 6.3 Logics of explanation / 151 IX Tables Table 1.1 Members of the Business Roundtable / 34 Table 2.1 Money income of u.s. households: Percentage distribution, by quintile, and index of income concentration, 1986 / 68 Table 2.2 Personal wealth: Percentage of assets held by top 1 percent of adults in 1922, 1945, and 1972 / 69 Table 3.1 Capital logic derivation of state forms / 85 Table 6.1 A metatheoretical conceptualization of the state / 155 Xl Acknowledgments Critical Theories of the State started as a set of preliminary notes for an undergraduate seminar which I first taught at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in 1988. Two years later, at the request of seminar students, the notes were expanded into a series of short papers and placed in the library for reserve reading. It was not long thereafter that I decided to rework the papers into their current form and publish them as a short book designed for courses in state theory and political development. Thus, the many students who inspired this work deserve my sincere thanks. Moreover, in each of the last three years, a special student has emerged in the seminar, and each warrants special men­ tion for his or her exceptional contribution to the development of this text. Joe LaValley, who sparked my interest in several strains of post­ Marxist theory, has gone on to graduate studies in sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Darin Conforti, who initiated countless conversations on the works of Claus Offe and the new social movement theory, is now a graduate student in political theory at the State University of New York-Albany. Lynn Miller, who also served as my research assistant for almost two years, is now off to the University of Washington to begin graduate work in geography. I wish them the best of luck in the future. The manuscript has also benefited from the thoughtful and insightful comments of three reviewers. Richard Bensel, Samih Farsoun, and Erik Olin Wright all contributed their considerable expertise to the prepara­ tion of the final text. Barbara Hanrahan, senior editor at the University of Wisconsin Press, has supported and encouraged the project patiently, since it was delayed for a year by my frequent forays into the turbulent and chaotic morass of Massachusetts state politics. My colleagues at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth have been notable for main­ taining a combination of free inquiry, political expression, and social activism that is still rare on American campuses. I must also express my gratitude to the librarians and library staff who cheerfully lent their assistance throughout this project: Shaleen Barnes, Jane Booth, Jo-Ann Cooley, Paige Gibbs, Catherine Fortier-Barnes, Kate Jones-Randall, Xlll XIV Acknowledgments Ross LaBaugh, Charles McNeil, Julie Miller, and Linda Zieper. Peggy Silva, Fera Karakaya, and Bill Kerry all provided invaluable technical assistance while I opened up new frontiers of computer illiteracy. My thanks to Robin Whitaker for lending her notable skills as a copy editor. Finally, lowe an immeasurable debt to my wife, Trini. List of Abbreviations AAA Agricultural Adjustment Act AALL American Association for Labor Legislation BAC Business Advisory Council BC Business Council CC U.S. Chamber of Commerce CED Committee on Economic Development CFR Council on Foreign Relations NAM National Association of Manufacturers NIRA National Industrial Recovery Act NRA National Recovery Administration RT regulation theory SSAT social structure of accumulation theory xv Critical Theories of the State Introduction This book is an introduction to the major theoretical approaches cur­ rently utilized by Marxist scholars as frameworks for the conduct of empirical or historical research on public policy and political develop­ ment. The book is not intended as a comprehensive survey of the entire field of state theory, but is focused on plain Marxist, neo-Marxist, and post-Marxist theories of the state.1 Three types of individuals are most likely to find the book useful. First, university students should find the book helpful in defining and formulating research problems on the state. Second, scholars who are not specialists in state theory but who are seeking to stay abreast of an important literature will find a concise summary and history of the Marxian contribution to that field. Finally, the new emphasis in social science on theoretically informed policy studies will commend the present survey to scholars working in various specialized fields of public policy and comparative political development. Design and Scope of the Text There are certainly some people who will question the value of yet another rendering of the state of state theory. Consequently, it is worth noting that the scope and design of this text differs from similar books in several ways.2 First, there are certainly several quasi texts of varying quality already on the market, but the existing books serve more as platforms for advanced theorizing, and, thus, they tend to presume a fair degree of familiarity with previous literature on the state. It is per­ haps hard for senior scholars to remember just how difficult it is to read authors such as Ralph Miliband, Nicos Poulantzas, or Claus Offe for the first time as a graduate or undergraduate student. Indeed, for those scholars who have labored on state theory throughout their careers, it may come as a surprise to note that most undergraduates and even some graduate students were not even born in the heyday of the Miliband­ Poulantzas debate, the watershed event which captured the attention of so many graduate students in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Given 3 4 Introduction this long history, a brief reprise of the literature now seems in order. However, more important, I have chosen to write a survey that is un­ compromisingly designed as an introductory orientation for the novice. Thus, one important difference between this book and similar ones is the level on which it is written.3 Similarly, I have attempted to render an often obscure and jargon-laden literature as accessible as possible without sacrificing its conceptual or technical integrity.4 Second, both for brevity and for theoretical reasons, I have dispensed with the orthodox ritual of retracing the genealogy of Karl Marx's and Friedrich Engels's thinking on the state. Several of the existing works have already done an excellent job of this task.5 The result of such analyses has made it painfully evident, as Bob Jessop concludes, that Marx "did not offer a theoretical analysis of the capitalist state to match the scope and rigour of Das Kapital. His work on the state comprises a fragmented and unsystematic series of philosophical re­ flections, contemporary history, journalism and incidental remarks." 6 Thus, although reading Capital and other works by Marx will always have its place in Marxian political theory, we are well beyond the point of thinking that such readings will yield a well-defined Marxist theory of the state? Quite the contrary, as I will demonstrate in subsequent chapters, there are real tensions in Marx's thought that allow for the articulation of several competing approaches to the state. Third, therefore, this text is further distinguished from similar books by its emphasis on the historical and logical development of the com­ peting approaches.8 Rather than focusing on specific concepts (e.g., hegemony or autonomy) and analyzing the use of those concepts across competing schools of thought, I have opted for modular presentations of entire theories. This strategy has made it possible to clarify more effectively the kinds of hypothetical assumptions that are made by the proponents of each theory and to draw out the contrasting logics of explanation that underlie each approach. This process has been facili­ tated by reconstructing particular schools of thought around a highly selective examination of specific theorists who are taken to represent the competing theoretical approaches. The advantage to this technique is that it enables the text to maintain a sharpness of focus and a logical continuity in presentation that would not otherwise be possible.