State theory

Marxists argue that the state serves the dominant classes in society. The state is "the executive committee of the bourgeoisie". In capitalist society the state rules primarily in the interest of the capitalist class. For example the state takes as its top priority increasing economic (i.e., business) activity, when it is clear that this is now accompanied by a falling quality of life and by environmental destruction. The state's most important characteristic is that is has the power to coerce members of society; e.g., to jail, fine or execute, and to make war. Marx claimed that the state will cease to exist when society becomes classless. He seems to have meant that the coercive apparatus, e.g., police and army, will not be necessary because these function primarily to enforce rules which benefit the dominant classes, but there will still be a need for bureaucracy to look after organisation and planning.
Although Marx and Engels never put forward a unified presentation of the theory of the state, their conception of the state is a fundamental aspect of their outlook, and of what has since come to be called Marxism. In fact, theories of the state constitute critical facets of all totalitarian credos, not just the Marxian. After all, a given ideology may be overwhelmingly totalitarian in underlying logic, but if it lacks a focus on using the state as the means of transforming society—that is, of imposing its ideas—its totalitarianism will remain implicit. It is the same with Marxism. While Marxism contains many propositions that imply totalitarianism, it is Marx and Engels' view of the state that renders their theory totalitarian in practice. This is most evident in their argument that the state, in the form of the dictatorship of the proletariat, is the chief weapon in the struggle to establish communism.
Unfortunately, the totalitarian nature