elections of representatives on the basis of universal suffrage; responsibility of the state
apparatus to the elected representatives of the people; and guarantees for freedom of
expression and association. We argue that the development of democracy is the product of
three clusters of power: (1) the balance of class power as the most important aspect of the
balance of power in civil society, (2) the nature of the state and state-society relations, or
the balance of power between state and civil society, and (3) transnational structures of
power, or the international economy and system of states, as they shape the first two
balances and constrain political decision-making.
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democracy because it shifts the balance of class power by weakening the power of the
landlord class and strengthening subordinate classes. The working and the middle classes -
- unlike other subordinate classes in history — gain an unprecedented capacity for
self-organization due to such developments as urbanization, factory production, and new
forms of communication and transportation. As to the role of the bourgeoisie, we dispute
the claims of both liberal and Marxist political theory that democracy is the creation of the
bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie made important contributions to the move towards
democracy by insisting on its share in political power in the form of parliamentary control
of the state, but the bourgeoisie was also hostile to further democratization when its
interests seemed threatened.
The structure of the state and state-society relations are clearly relevant for
the chances of democracy. The state needs to be strong and autonomous enough to ensure
the rule of law and avoid being the captive of the interests of dominant groups; the state’s
authority to make binding decisions in a territory and the state’s monopoly of coercion
must be settled. The vote does not rule where it competes with the gun. However, the
power of the state needs to be counterbalanced by the organizational strength of civil
society to make democracy possible; the state must not be so strong and autonomous from
all social forces as to overpower civil society and rule without accountability. The third
power cluster involves international power relations. Aside from the impact of war
(typically creating a need for mass support and discrediting ruling groups in case of
defeat), we focused on the role of economic and geopolitical dependence. The three
power clusters — relative class power, the role of the state, and the impact of transnational
power structures — are closely interrelated. For instance, economic dependency can have
long term effects on the structures of class; war and geopolitical factors can strengthen the
role of the security forces within the state; and the results of power relations in civil
society are crucially affected by differential access to the state apparatus.
