The idea of the withering away of the state is associated with which historical figure?

The idea of the withering away of the state is associated with which historical figure?

• A. Marx
• B. Lenin
• C. Stalin
• D. Mao

Answer: (B)

The idea being tested is the belief that the state would fade away as a truly classless society emerges. In Marxist theory, the state is the instrument of ruling class power, and once classes are abolished, the need for a coercive state machinery should disappear. The figure most closely associated with developing and articulating this concept in a concrete revolutionary program is Lenin. He argued that after the proletarian revolution, there would be a transitional dictatorship of the proletariat to suppress the old ruling class and reorganize society toward socialism, and as class antagonisms vanished, the state would wither away. While Marx laid the groundwork for the eventual stateless communism, Lenin framed it as a practical process within the revolutionary and state-building period. Stalin and Mao, by contrast, maintained strong state structures as they pursued their versions of socialist construction, so the explicit phrase and its associated process align most closely with Lenin.

The idea being tested is the belief that the state would fade away as a truly classless society emerges. In Marxist theory, the state is the instrument of ruling class power, and once classes are abolished, the need for a coercive state machinery should disappear. The figure most closely associated with developing and articulating this concept in a concrete revolutionary program is Lenin. He argued that after the proletarian revolution, there would be a transitional dictatorship of the proletariat to suppress the old ruling class and reorganize society toward socialism, and as class antagonisms vanished, the state would wither away. While Marx laid the groundwork for the eventual stateless communism, Lenin framed it as a practical process within the revolutionary and state-building period. Stalin and Mao, by contrast, maintained strong state structures as they pursued their versions of socialist construction, so the explicit phrase and its associated process align most closely with Lenin.