A Study Of Democracy In Kautsky’s Dictatorship Of The Proletariat

Karl Kautsky was one of the important theorists of the German Social Democratic Party at the end of the 19 th century and the beginning of the 20 th century,as well as one of the important figures in the development of Marxism.Kautsky was a loyal Marxist who inherited and defended the relevant theories of Marxism in the earlier.In the early 20 th century,although Kautsky embarked on the road of eclecticism,his related ideas still came from Marx.The Dictatorship of the Proletariat is a representative work of Kautsky’s concentrated exposition of his democratic thoughts.Although the democratic thought discussed in this book is one-sided-it completely opposes democracy and dictatorship,his discussion of democracy,especially the role and absence of democracy,It has certain reference significance for the construction of socialist democracy in our country.The first chapter of the article is an investigation of the source of Kautsky’s democratic thought.The source of Kautsky’s democratic thought is influenced not only by his childhood environment,but also by the social trend of thought at that time,so the source of his democratic thought is complicated.However,the related ideas of Marx and Engels are the main source of Kautsky’s democratic thought.The second chapter specifically discusses Kautsky’s understanding of democracy and social revolution in the book.Kautsky believes that democracy is an important way to make the proletariat and the proletarian revolution mature,and it is also an important way to make the social revolution win and maintain the fruits of the revolution.The third chapter specifically discusses Kautsky’s basic views on democracy and socialism in the book.In Kautsky’s view,the construction and development of socialism is inseparable from democracy,democracy is the means to realize socialism,and socialism is the self-expression of democracy.At the same time,Kautsky believed that a socialist state without democracy was a "premature child" and would not exist for a long time,and thus opposed the Soviet government.The fourth chapter mainly discusses Lenin’s criticism of the democratic thoughts in this book and the influence of these two democratic thoughts on the construction of democracy in our country.Lenin believed that the democratic ideas Kautsky expressed in this book were "purely democratic" ideas that transcended classes,violated the Marxist class analysis method,and betrayed Marxism.Facts have proved that both Kautsky’s and Lenin’s democratic thoughts have their own characteristics due to the specific historical environment,which has important reference and reference significance for the construction of socialist democracy in our country.