ABSTRACT
In the liberal democratic tradition, the state was always seen as representing the general interest. The state, in the tradition that arises from Hegel and Kant, remains the architect of the will of society insofar as it represents the universal public good, trying to regulate, articulate, and mediate among competing particular interests. This perception of general interests versus particular interests make the notion of the state as an independent actor, an independent referee in social struggles, as an arena for policy confrontation, the key element in the constitution of the legitimacy of the state. Even in the neo-Marxist perspective, the same notion of relative autonomy is based on the constitution of the state as the potential arbiter, independent from particular interests that will make the state the ruling committee of the bourgeoisie.
