It is extremely important not to speak of "dictatorship" in
general. In a class society, the class in power establishes its
dictatorship and exercises its rule. The entire history of class
society is a history of class dictatorships. There was the
dictatorship of the slave owning class, followed by the rule of the
feudal aristocracy which was overthrown and replaced by the rule of
the capitalists, which is the situation at present. The working
class is the first class that has come into existence whose aim is
to establish its own dictatorship with the express aim of
eliminating all dictatorships including its own. Its aim is to
"negate the negation."
When the bourgeoisie speaks of the "dictatorship of the
proletariat" it does so with bad conscience. It uses words glibly
and creates the impression as if its own rule is "democracy" and
that "democracy" is neutral and above classes, while the rule of
the working class is a "dictatorship," which is, in turn, brutal
and blood-thirsty. To be scientific and to use words in good
conscience the working class places words such as "democracy" in
very specific historical and actual circumstances. Democracy
describes a definite system of class rule. Depending on the class
in power, it can either be a bourgeois democracy - dictatorship of
the bourgeoisie - or a proletarian democracy - a dictatorship of
the proletariat. Either kind of democracy holds elections but the
role of elections should also be discussed concretely. The role of
elections under the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie is to sort out
contradictions among the capitalists themselves to see which
section will govern for the coming period. It is also to provide
the institutions of government with credibility. In other words by
permitting the people the right to vote, people are supposed to be
fooled into believing that the state and its institutions are
"neutral," "above classes" and serve everyone in society equally.
When the elections do not sort out the serious contradictions in
the ranks of the bourgeoisie or they fail to restore the faith of
the people in the system, the political crisis deepens. The
electorate is merely used as voting cattle to decide which set of
exploiters will rule over them.
The role of elections under the dictatorship of the
proletariat is to make it possible for the people to come to power
themselves. As this direct democracy develops and matures and the
people become experienced in managing their economic, social,
cultural and political affairs and, as the exploiting classes are
eliminated altogether, the need for the state as an instrument of
compulsion will disappear and it will wither away.
The characteristic feature of the dictatorship of the
bourgeoisie is that it will never permit the people to come to
power through elections or otherwise. The struggle of the people
for power leads to the overthrow of the dictatorship of the
bourgeoisie. Force is exercised against the bourgeoisie at the
will of the people, by the people themselves led by the working
class. The overthrow of the bougeoisie is the most popular thing
there is. To suggest that there are some people who force
themselves upon others is to speak of bourgeois dictatorships
engineered through military coups d'etat. The aim of the overthrow
of the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie is not the installation of
an individual as a dictator. It is the people who become sovereign
and they establish a system in which the legislative and executive
power is subordinate to the people.
There is no difference of opinion between Karl Marx and V.I.
Lenin on the question of the manner in which the dictatorship of
the proletariat is to be established. Whether the revolution is
peaceful or violent, the aim remains to overthrow the dictatorship
of the bourgeoisie. The new state must compel the bourgeoisie to
submit to the wishes of the people, and submit to the profound
revolutionary reforms whose aim is to eliminate all exploitation of
persons by persons. To speculate on the forms of the struggle and
to suggest that differences exist between the opinions of Marx and
Lenin diverts attention from the task at hand, which is to analyze
the concrete conditions of the present and deal with the
contemporary problems of the current struggle, the aim of this
struggle and how this aim can be achieved.
Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
