On the relationship between the derivations of legal and political forms

Abstract

https://doi.org/10.1590/2179-8966/2025/88993

This article examines the relationship between the derivations of the legal form (by Pashukanis) and the political form (by those who are closest to him in the German debate on the derivation of the state). The questions that guide it are: What is the relationship between the derivations of these legal and political forms? Can they both be derived from the same starting points? If not, what are the starting points of both derivations and what explains the difference between them? The article critically analyses the relationship between the two forms established by Blanke, Jürgens and Kastendiek (first section). It then argues that Hirsch's derivation of the political form (second section) and Pashukanis' derivation of the legal form (third section) are (a) different from each other, (b) both implicitly presuppose that these forms are derived differently, and (c) are compatible with each other. The article is of a theoretical nature, naturally, but the questions it raises are loaded with consequences for Marxist theories of law and the State.