The Democratic Transition to Democratic Socialism

Abstract

In analysing fascism and military dictatorships Poulantzas was often concerned with problems of class alliances. In FD and related studies he concentrated on the United Front and Popular Front as vehicles of anti-fascist or anti-dictatorial alliance and their relevance to the contemporary problem of anti-monopoly alliance; in CD and related studies this concern was extended to the struggle for democratisation in erstwhile dictatorial regimes and its relevance to the democratic transition to democratic socialism. It is only in SPS and its associated interviews, however, that Poulantzas considered the transition to socialism at any length. In this chapter I review Poulantzas’s views on democratic socialism, compare them with Eurocommunism and Austro-Marxism, and present a brief critique. This concludes the detailed review of Poulantzas’s work and the remaining chapters consider its more general preconditions and implications.