Dictatorship of the proletariat

Uncommon card · No. 76099

In Marxist theory, the dictatorship of the proletariat (sometimes abbreviated as DotP) is a state of affairs in which the proletariat, or the working class, holds political power. The term, as used by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, refers to a transitional stage between capitalism and communism. During this phase, the proletariat acts as the ruling class to suppress the resistance of the bourgeoisie (the former ruling class), destroy the social relations of production underlying the class system, and create a classless society. The concept's meaning and implications have been a source of major controversy and divergence within the Marxist movement. The term "dictatorship" is derived from the ancient Roman dictatura, a constitutionally sanctioned office for a magistrate granted extraordinary powers during an emergency. For Marx and Engels, the "dictatorship of the proletariat" was not a specific form of government but a term for the class content of the state that would follow a proletarian...

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