Types of State and the problems of analysis poulantziana do absolutist state

Abstract

The thirtieth anniversary of the publication of Political Power and Social Classes, by Nicos Poulantzas, is a good opportunity to take stock of the originality, theoretical advancement, influence and also the problems of this treatise on Marxist political theory. For this Marxist Criticism article, we decided to address a historical theme present in this treatise: the theme of the class nature of the absolutist State. Would the absolutist State be, as Poulantzas claims, a capitalist State? Is this characterization of the absolutist State as a capitalist State consistent with the theoretical analysis of the types of State (slave, feudal, capitalist) that Poulantzas develops in the same treatise?