The Kelsen-Bauer debate on Marxist state theory and the equilibrium of class forces

Abstract

This serves as an introduction to a debate between Hans Kelsen and Otto Bauer concerning the nature and relative autonomy of the state, and the theories that informed the political practices of the Austro-Marxists and of the SDAP (Austrian Social Democratic Workers’ Party) immediately after the fall of the monarchy and during the early years of the First Republic. Both pieces (translated below) were published in Der Kampf ( The Campaign), the SDAP’s theoretical journal, in which many key texts of Austro-Marxist thought appeared. The debate is of theoretical interest, particularly with respect to Marxist state theory, but is potentially also of renewed relevance to an age of post-GFC (Global Financial Crisis) austerity. Bauer’s distinction between functional oligarchy and functional democracy is identified as one such potential contribution to current debate and analysis.

Reactionaries of the lectern: Universalism, anti-empiricism and corporatism in Austrian (and German) social theory

“…Indeed, precisely this argument was made at the time by the legal theorist Hans Kelsen in his critique of Otto Bauer's notion of a 'functional' -as opposed to merely 'formal' -democracy. Even when expressed in Marxist language, such political holism implies an 'organic view of society' that assesses social groups according to 'their function for the whole social body' (Kelsen, 1924(Kelsen, /2021. Like Rosenblum, Kelsen notes that such a functionalist and organicist view of society and of the state is anti-majoritarian, and he thus doubts whether it 'really is "democratic"' (Kelsen, 1924(Kelsen, /2021).…”

Book Review: The Alternative Austrian Economics: A Brief History

“…2 See e.g. Blum andSmaldone (2016, 2017), Scott (2021), Uebel (2004), as well as the not so recent Bottomore and Goode (1978).…”