ABSTRACT
According to Marx's theory of capitalism, as put forth in Capital, this system of production and exchange reproduces itself spontaneously, as an automatic effect of its functioning. The state may have been necessary to create capitalism during the period of "primitive accumulation" but, once in place, capitalism reproduces the conditions of its own existence. In contrast, regardless of the tone they assume toward Marx, from ostensibly exegetic to openly critical, all recent marxist theories of the state begin by asserting that one or another among the conditions necessary for reproduction are absent in contemporary capitalist societies. Either Marx had erred or capitalism had changed. Since some conditions necessary for the spontaneous reproduction of capitalism have been absent at least for several decades and since capitalism is still around, the inevitable conclusion is that some institutions outside the system of production and exchange must be doing whatever is required to maintain the capitalist system. These institutions are identified as the state. Thus the explanation for the persistence of capitalism in the face of various threats is to be found in the activities of state institutions. Conversely, all public policies can be understood, and predicted, by referring to the prerequisites of continued capitalist production. The function of the state is to reproduce capitalism and this is the goal of public policy.
