What is the capitalist democratic state and how should it be confronted? The left has typically seen the state either as an instrument of class rule that needs to be "smashed" or, as with social democracy, as a neutral medium which can be wielded by functionaries with the correct ideas. In this, a series of seven theses on the nature and function of the capitalist state, Michael A. McCarthy argues that both are wrong and that we need a reinvigoration of the late work of Nicos Poulantzas for a full, democratic understanding of the state.
