dictatorship of the bourgeoisie

plural dictatorships of the bourgeoisie · alternative initialism DOTB · alternative initialism DotB

1. MarxismcountableuncountableA socio-political power wherein the bourgeoisie collectively holds the most influence over politics and the masses, as opposed to the dictatorship of the proletariat.

   But Cavaignac was not the dictatorship of the sabre over bourgeois society; he was the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie by the sabre.

   1978 [1850], Marx, Karl, “The Class Struggles in France, 1848 to 1850”, in Marx/Engels Collected Works, volume 10, translation of original in German, published 2010, page 76

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   Bourgeois states are most varied in form, but their essence is the same: all these states, whatever their form, in the final analysis are inevitably the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. The transition from capitalism to communism is certainly bound to yield a tremendous abundance and variety of political forms, but the essence will inevitably be the same: the dictatorship of the proletariat.

   1917, Lenin, V. I., “The State and Revolution”, in Lenin Collected Works, volume 25, Moscow: Progress Publishers, translation of original in Russian, published 1964, 1974, 2011, page 418 of 381 - 492

   Synonyms: dictatorship of capital · Antonyms: dictatorship of the proletariat