ABSTRACT
The specific unity and relative autonomy of the capitalist type of state vis-a-vis the dominant classes and fractions depends on the position of this state in the structures of the capitalist mode of production and on its particular relation to the field of the class struggle in this mode. In the characteristic forms of the principle of representation, the general interest, public opinion, universal suffrage, public liberties, it presents the normative institutional ensemble of political democracy. With regard to the dominant classes and fractions, the capitalist state presents an intrinsic unity, combined with its relative autonomy, not because it is a tool of an already politically unified class, but precisely because it is the unifying factor of the power bloc. This relative autonomy of the state from the power bloc and the hegemonic class or fraction does not depend on an equilibrium of the forces of the dominant classes and fractions, amongst which institutionalized power operates as arbitrator.
