Political Science 2246E Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Class Conflict, For Marx, Belongingness
Document Summary
Karl marx: the first major figure in the classic school of thought, marx was influenced in his ideas about bureaucracy by the german philosopher, g. w. f. For hegel, the bureaucracy represented a bridge between the state and civil society. The state represented the overall general or common interest. For hegel, the bureaucracy was in fact the universal class par excellence because it represented the generalized communal interest of all: for marx, bureaucracy was not some kind of ideal representation of the general will of society. It was more concrete than that: it was real people involved in a particular set of social relationships involving the exercise of power: according to marx, the bureaucracy was nothing more than a special interest in itself. Whereas in society, various interests struggled for possession of private property, within the bureaucracy the struggle was over positions: the hierarchal structure of government meant that abuse by lower officials could be redressed by their superiors.