Dados is one of the most widely-read social sciences journals in Latin America. Created in 1966, it publishes innovative works, originating from academic research, by Brazilian and foreign authors. Edited by IESP-UERJ, it aims to reconcile scientific rigor and academic excellence with an emphasis on public debate based on the analysis of substantive issues of society and politics.
Dados n. 20 Rio de Janeiro 1979
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to review some of the classical theoretical positions regarding the relationship between the state and capitalism. ln the first place, the author discusses the historical-structural determinants of the behavior of the state in the context of capitalist development. The first part presents some preliminary analytical references of a general nature that relate the increasing intervention of the state in the economy and the growth of public bureaucracies to the process of concentration and centralization of capital and to the development of big enterprise. It is suggested that the specific mode by which capitalism develops in various historical-structural situations must be the starting point for a study of the state. ln the second part the author formulates a conceptual framework that permits different concrete patterns of development and the forms of various modes of activity to be related to the state of the economy and society. The conceptual pattern of development represents an analytical synthesis of the contributions of the most important lines of Latin American social science, combining three essential analytic dimensions: accumulation, domination, and political orientation. A specific pattern of development is defined by an organic and historic combination of certain 'patterns of production, domination, and political orientation which are conceived as being wholly overdetermined. Each historical pattern of development determines different modes and logic of state activity. The historical-structural parameters established by the pattern of development function as general conditioning factors in the long run and as determining factors of the particular processes that give shape and content to the daily activity of the state in the final analysis. A study of state behavior demands a more specific conceptual framework, since a mere identification of the general determinants is not sufficient to completely explain the politics of state activity. These are the necessary but not sufficient conditions.
Estado e Desenvolvimento Capitalista: Uma Perspectiva de Análise Política Estrututal
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