ABSTRACT
In his Critique of the Gotha Program, Karl Marx asserted that "the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat" would be the form taken by the state during the transition between capitalism and communism. Contemporary Marxists argue that the bureaucratic degeneration of transitional regimes can be prevented only through the effective deconcentration and decentralization of state power within a federative socialist democracy. Michael Lowy has claimed that "the tragic example of Grenada demonstrates the terrible consequences of the absence of socialist democracy" in societies that attempt to make a transition to socialism. Nicaragua provides an enlightening case study of what can happen when a revolutionary regime attempts to legitimate its continued existence on the basis of the institutionalization of representative democratic institutions and national elections. In relationship to the restoration of capitalist relations and the emergence of a new class during the transition period, Marxists have also been concerned about the problem of bureaucratism.
