Clyde W. Barrow's Analysis And Defense Of The Instrumentalist State Theory

As an important contemporary scholar to research "Poulantzas-Miliband Debate",one of the achievements of Barrow is that he made a detailed analysis of the instrumentalist state theory including Miliband's based on the combination with Domhoff's class domination theory,and counter-criticized the various critical words of this theory.In his view,the criticism of the instrumentalist state theory including Poulantzas' is in fact not established.What they criticized is only a theoretical "illusion",and the criticism erroneously reduced the instrumentalist state theory only to the following proposition: "The modern state is the ruling tool of the bourgeoisie." Therefore,Barrow argues that the criticism of the instrumentalist state theory so far is actually only the misunderstanding and distortion of it,which do not really grasp the whole of this theory.This article starts with Barrow's analysis and defense of the instrumentalist state theory,thus indicating that it is still established and conforms to current social reality.This paper is mainly divided into four parts: first,the introduction mainly explains the research background and research status of this paper.This paper argues that up to now,the research results of the instrumentalist state theory are still focused on Ralph Miliband and have not yet involved the reconstruction and defense of this theory by scholars after Poulantzas-Miliband Debate.Secondly,Chapter One mainly traces the theoretical source of the instrumentalist state theory.This paper argues that if the instrumentalist state theory is not over-extended,that is,only to explain and reveal the tool nature of the capitalist state,then this theory should first go back to Marx.After him,this theory was inherited and developed by Engels,Lenin and Gramsci,and received systematic empirical analysis in Miliband.Again,Chapter Two mainly explains Barrow's analysis of the instrumentalist state theory.This paper points out,Barrow views the power structure analysis as the methodological approach of the instrumentalist state theory,and on this basis shows the capitalist class indeed constitutes the economical and political ruling class and takes the state and its public policy as the tool to pursue the interest through description of economical analysis and social analysis of the capitalistclass and through analysis of the colonization process,ideological process,special interests process and policy formulation process.Finally,Chapter Three explains Barrow's defense of the instrumentalist state theory.This paper points out that Barrow made a counter-criticism of three kinds of criticism of instrumentalist state theory,namely,methodological criticism,interpretative criticism and counterfactual criticism.In his opinion,up to now,all the criticism of instrumentalist state theory cannot completely refute the reality and correctness of this theory due to its own defects,that is,vulgarly understanding of the instrumentalist state theory.