ABSTRACT
The French Revolution exempli4 ed the political pattern of class struggle in capitalist development. The bourgeoisie needed democratic rights based upon individual ownership of property and money wealth. To gain these rights, they opposed the landed aristocracy. In doing so, they raised the prospect for the proletariat of their own expanded rights. However, individual rights for the working class were contradicted by private ownership of the means of production and wealth. The means of production under capitalism are limited to the expansion of capital, which is the purpose of production. Consequently, the democratic rights of the proletariat could expand only to the limits of capital’s own expansion within a given social con4 guration. Capital’s con4 gurations change as ownership of wealth becomes more and more concentrated and centralized. Capitalist crises of production and employment make immediate the circumstances in which the proletariat needs expanded rights and access to government.
